I 




i 



WHIST UP TO DATE 



REVISED, ENLARGED, AND EXPLAINED 

BEING 

A PRACTICAL, SIMPLE AND RELIABLE 
GUIDE TO THE GAME. 



FIFTH EDITION 



CHARLES STUART STREET, 

BOSTON, MASS. 
1900. 



TWO COPIES RECEIVED, 

Library of Cofigr8t% 
Office of tli« 

MAY 2 . 1900 

Reglttsr ef Cspyrlgbfdi 



57645 

COPYRIGHT 
1895, 1897, ^900- 
BY C. S. S. 



SECOND COPY, 



PART I. 
THE LONG-SUIT GAME. 



To 

EMIL Y T. DA VIS, 
my dear friend and esteemed 
fellow craftsmati, 
Ihis part of my book is affediotiafely dedicated, 
Charles Stuart Street. 



INTRODUCTION. 

This book is the result of many \-ears' ex- 
perience in the teaching of whist. During this 
time the author has used, with such success, 
the plan of the game and the conventions herein 
set forth, that he now is led to offer them to 
the general whist-studying public. 

This is not a manual for advanced players. 
It contains no abstruse mathematical calcula- 
tions ; it deals in no theories ; it propounds no 
brilliant coups. It aims simply to be a practical 
exposition of the game, explained and so ar- 
ranged as to be not only methodical but eas}^ 
to grasp and to remember. It presents a sys- 
tem which, when once thoroughly studied and 
fixed, equips the student with an intelligible 
alphabet wherewith to express the results of 
his deductions and inferences. 



WHIST UP TO DATE. 



The Manner of Pi,ay. 

You should sort your cards carefully and 
arrange each suit in numerical order. 

It is wise to arrange your suits alternately, 
first red and then black ; you may thus pre- 
vent possible mistakes. 

Count your cards ; if you can remember late 
in the hand that you had four spades originally 
and now see but one left, that fact will help 
you to remember how many rounds of the suit 
have been played. 

Do not lead until the other players are ready. 
A hasty lead is -apt to hurry them and you do 
not care to win through your adversaries' con- 
fusion. 

If you are the dealer, place the turned-up 
trump in your hand just after the first trick is 
turned. 

Should you win the first trick on your side 



2 Whist Up To Date. 



it becomes your partner's duty to gather up 
that and all subsequent tricks which your side 
wins during that hand, and vice versa. 

If you are playing duplicate whist, be 
sure that the arrow, or the hand, or the device 
used to indicate North's hand is pointing right, 
before you take up your cards. In order to 
facilitate scoring, place the cards in the tricks 
which your side wins so that they point length- 
wise towards you ; the others, sidewise. Each 
card should overlap the one before it. By this 
means an error in count is easily found and 
rectified. 

]\Iany players seem to labor under the delu- 
sion that whist is a species of refined slap-jack 
and that the acme of good play consists in 
shooting their cards at the center of the table 
and then grabbing for the complete trick, as 
though manual dexterity in securing it were a 
title to its possession. Whist is a dignified 
gam.e. The player who flings his cards, who 
snaps them down, or who grabs, is playing the 
wrong game ; he not only exposes his igno- 
rance of whist etiquette but he annoys the 
other players. 



Opening the Hand. 3 



CHAPTER I. 
Opening the Hand. 

The original lead is the keynote to the hand. 
From it your partner builds up his play ; to it 
your adversaries adjust theirs. 

Were the object in whist to take as many 
tricks as possible as soon as possible, it would 
be easy to lead one's taking cards in simple 
successicn regardless of length of suits. This 
too frequently is done by a shallow player who 
holds, for example, two suits, one being Ace, 
King, and two small cards, the other, Knave, 
and four small. He opens the first, winning 
two tricks and probably establishing it for 
some other player. His hand is then, to all 
intents and purposes, dead, and thence springs 
his lack of all further interest in it. A wiie 
player, on the other hand, opens the longer 
five-card suit ; he may lose the trick and not 
clear his suit but he regains the lead as soon 
as his Ace-King suit is led. He can now lead 



4 Whist Up To Date. 



his long suit the second time. Should this 
clear it, as in all likelihood it will, he has still 
his Ace left to re-enter the game with. In the 
first case he fires two shots and retires from 
the field ; in the second he remains an acti\ e 
force in the conflict until the middle of the 
hand, perhaps later. In the first case he can 
be of no possible assistance to his partner save 
w^here a signal has been played on his Ace and 
King ; in the second, he announces his suit, 
not onh^ clears it probably, but also secures 
the lead several times during the hand, being 
thus ready to aid his partner in an}^ plan of 
campaign he ma}^ have advanced. 

Too man}^ players lead high cards in their 
short suits first ; then with exhausted hands, 
sit back and wait for a new deal which may 
bring them more high cards to meet with sim- 
lar treatment. 



The Original Lead. 5 



CHAPTER II. 

The Original Lead. 

In opening the hand, lead first from 3'onr 
longest suit. Almost any suit containing at 
least five cards thus becomes a good one to 
open. With no five-card suit you can open a 
suit of four which contains one honor or more. 
Should your long suit, however, consist of but 
four C2ir As with no honor, it is stronger whiit 
to lead if possible a strengthening card in an- 
other suit. (See chapter on Forced Leads.) 
Such a lead now is not taken to be an an- 
nouncement that you have four trumps. It 
says simply that you are unable at the start to 
open profitably 3'our four-card suit. It may 
be because that suit is trumps, or because it is 
a suit of such little w^orth that it seems folly 
to risk upon it any high card 3'our partner 
j may have, 

j Holding six trumps 3'ou should lead them, 
Holdingy?:'^ trumps 3'ou should lead them, 
except in the one case where they do not con- 



6 Whist Up To Date 



tain two honors and when you have no suit of 
four cards which can be estabHshed. 

Holding five trumps and a five-card suit, 
lead the trumps first. Should your partner 
help you, you can easily exhaust trumps and 
probably bring in your suit. Should the trump 
lead seem unprofitable to continue, you can use 
your remaining trumps to ruff wnth ; and this 
is something the adversaries, not knowing 
your change of plan, are apt to force you to 
do, with the idea of weakening your hand. 
Should you not lead five trumps for any rea- 
son, you must exercise care to signal for them 
upon your partner's showing a good suit. 

Holding trumps and some other good 
five-card or four-card suit you would better 
lead and establish the plain suit before leading 
the trumps. It is rarely wise to lead your 
trumps as an original lead. But, after some 
suit has been established in 3'our hand or your 
partner's, in the absence of a trump call from 
the other side, four trumps are apt to prove of 
enormous value. 

Holding four trumps and three three-card 
suits, do not lead trumps except when the other 
suits contain good taking cards. Without 
such good cards it is better to lead a weak suit 
headed by Knave or Ten or Nine. You will 



The Original Lead. 7 



thus not commit the absurdity of exhausting 
trumps for some strong suit of your adver- 
saries. A player who leads trumps in the 
hope that his partner may prove strong in 
them, or because he thinks his partner ought 
to have some good suit, fails to remember that, 
with two adversaries and but one partner his 
chance is exactly one against two, a dangerous 
speculation. 

Holding fewer than four trumps you should 
lead them only with strength in all the other 
suits or with a postponed hand. (See chapter 
on Forced Leads, last part.) On this ground 
the initial lead of a single trump — not neces- 
sarily the Ace — is often successful. 

Holding a singleton in a plain suit you vshould 
lead it only when holding great strength in 
trumps and desiring them led. As when King 
is turned to your right and you hold Ace, 
Queen, and four small in trumps. A singleton 
here may prove an excellent lead. Upon your 
trumping that suit the second round, the ad- 
versaries are very likely to make a dash at 
trumps only to their cost. 

The Albany lead " — leading a weak suit 
originally with an honor turned to the right, 
to show trump strength — has been given up by 
most players. 



8 



Whist Up To Date. 



CHAPTER III. 

Analysis of Hands. 
Thirteen kinds of hands are here scheduled. 



u 



o 



o 

C 



si 



y. ^ X 



X 



^. >< « M ^" X 



X . X 



t5 



X X 



. X ^ X* . x' 

. n ^ X X X ^ ^• 



X 



2 W 



X X 
c - 



X X 

X X 

I — I I — I 

X X 

I ! I 1 

X X 



^ X X 
X I — 1 1 — I 
i_j X X 



" X X 
'x X X 



1^ < 



X 

X ^ X 
X 

X X> X 

X < 



^ X X X . . 



C X 



The Lead of Ace. 



9 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Lead of Ace. 

The Ace is led properh' from a long suit of 
five or more, or from the Queen and Knave 
in a suit of any length, but never from both 
Kuig and Queen : as when holding, 

1. A. K. X X X ( + ). (See foot note.) 

2. A. Q. Kn. X (+). 

3. A. X X X X X (+). 

In detail. 

Holding lycad 
I. A. K. X X X (+). A. then K. 



A. Q. Kn. X. A. then Q. 

A. Q. Kn. 10. A. " 10. 

A. Q. Kn. X X (+). A. Kn. 

A. Q. Kn. 10 X (+). A. Kn. 



3. A. X X X X X (+). A. then 4th best. 



Note — x=small card. ( + )= ' ' or more. ' ' 



10 



V/HiST Up To Date. 



In case (2), while Ace led proclaims a probable 
long suit, yet when it is followed by Queen or 10, 
later information is immediately voiced and a suit of 
four only is shown. 

In case (3) it is better to lead fourth best with even 
six in suit, if holding four trumps. 

In case (3) the second lead, after leading Ace is 
the original fourth best, the third best now remain- 
ing in hand. 

The old lead of Ace from Ace, without King, in a 
five-card suit, has now been generally abandoned. 
Most sound players prefer to lead fourth best from five 
cards headed by the Ace even when such high cards 
as Queen, or Knave, or Knave and 10 are present. 

The ace led proclaims either great 
length or the presence of the queen 
AND Knave. 



iHE Lead of King. 11 



CHAPTER V. 

The Lead of King. 

The King is led properly from four or fewer, 
^hen it occurs with Ace, or Queen, or both : 
when holding, 



I. 


A. K. X X. 




2. 


A. K. 0. X. 




.3- 


K. Q. X X. 






In detail. 






Holding 


Lead 


a. 


A. K. X X. 


K. then A. 


2. 


A. K. Q. X. 


K. then Q. 




A. K. Q. Kn. 


K. then Kn. 


3- 


K. 0. X X. 


K. then 4th best, 




K. 0. Kn. X. 


K. then Kn. 




K. Q. Kn. ID. 


K. then 10. 



ji In the first case under (3), K. Q. x x., should the 
I Ace \vin the first trick you lead Queen next. 

The king led proclaims a suit of not 
I more than four, and either Ace or 

^UEEN — PERHAPS BOTH. 



Whist Up lo Date. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Lead of Queen. 

The OuEEX is led properl}- from Jive or 
niore, when it occurs ^vith the King. (Ace 
also may be present but not Knave): as with 

I. A. K. O. X X ( + ). 

K. O. X X X (-). 

In detail. 
Holding Lead 

I. A. K. Q. X X. Q. then A. 
A. K. O. X X X ( — O. then K. 



2. K. C. X X X (-f). O. then 5th best. 

In case (i) you go to the head of your suit for 
your second lead -^^hen holding exactly the mini- 
mum number — five — from ^-hich Queen can be led. 

In case (2), if Queen forces Ace on first rounds 
you continue of course with Kirg. 

The OUEEX led proclai^is a suit of 

FIVE OR IMORE, AXD THE KlXG — PERHAPS 
AcE ALSO, BET XEVER THE KXAVE. 



The Lead of Knave. 



13 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Lead of Knave. 

The Knave is led properly from five or 
more, when it occurs with both King and 
Queen. (Ace also ma}^ be present): as when 
holding, 

1. A. K. Q. Kn. X (+). 

2. K. Q. Kn. X X (+). 

In detail. 
Holding Lead 
I. A. K. Q. Kn. X. Kn. then A. 

A. K. Q. Kn. X x. Kn. then K. 

A. K. Q. Kn. XXX (+). Kn. then Q. 



2. K. Q. Kn. X X. Kn. then K. 

K. Q. Kn. X X X (+). Kn. then Q. 



In both cases (i) and (2) note that you go to the 
head of your suit for your second lead when holding 
exactly the minimum number-^z/^ — from which the 
Knave can be led. Holding more than five you lead 
.a lower card for your second lead. 



14 



Whist Up To date. 



In case (2) Knave, whether it wins or loses^ must 
be followed by another high card. An adversary, 
in doubt whether it is a very strong or very weak 
lead, may hold up the Ace. 

The knave led proclaims a suit of^ 
five or :\iore, and both the king ani> 
Queen — perhaps Ace also. 



The Lead of Ten. 



15 



CHAPTER VIII. 
The Lrad of Ten. 

The Tp:n is led properl}^ from four or more, 
when it occurs with Knave, and Queen : as 
when holding, 

I. Q. Kn. lo X (+). 



In detail. 

Holding Lead 

I. Q. Kn. lo X. lo 

Q. Kn. ID X X (+)• lo 



111 case (i) lead a high card the second time re- 
gardless of what happens on the first round ; there- 
fore follow with Queen in the first suit, Knave in tl:e 
second. ( See next chapter. ) 

The author w^as the first to advance this lead of 
the Ten which has now been accepted by the greater 
number of writers and players. Previously with this 
combination the Queen had been led, to the great 
confusion of the Queen leads. 



16 



Whist Up To Date. 



The Ten used to be led from the combination of 
King, Knave, Ten, and small. The fourth-best has 
been found now to be the better lead. 

Thk. ten led proclaims four or 

MORK, INCLUDING BOTH QuEEN AND KnAVE. 



Second Lead. 



17 



CHAPTER IX. 

Second Lead. 

It will be noticed, and must be remembered, 
that, having led a high card originally from 
your suit, and being obliged to continue with 
another high card, 3^ou are to choose, when 
holdir.g two cards of equal value, the higher 
to show a short suit, the lower to show a long 
suit. High and short ; low and lojig. 

This principle does not apph^ to the King 
lead as that show^s a short suit in itself. 

Thus, having led Ace, you follow with 
Queen from a short suit and Knave from a long 
one. 

Having led Queen you follow with Ace from 
a short suit — exactly five — the minimum num- 
ber from which Queen can be led, and King 
from six or more. 

Having led Knave from Ace, King, Queen, 
Knave, and others, you follow with Ace from 
x^xactly five, the minimum number from which 



18 



Whist Up To Date. 



Knave can be led, King from six, and Queen 
from seven. 

Having led Knave from King, Queen, 
Knave and others, again you show five exactly^ 
by following wdth King ; six or more by fol- 
lowing with Queen. 

Having led Ten from Queen, Knave, Ten, 
and others, again 3^ou show a short suit of four 
by following w^ith the Queen, and a suit of 
five or more by following with the Knave. 



The Lead of Fourth Best. 19 



CHAPTER X. 

The Lead of Fourth Best. 

Not holding any combination from which a 
high card would be led properly, you must 
open your suit with a small card. In doing 
so you should count down and lead the fourth 
best from the top of your suit. 

Therefore holding King, lo, 9, 2, you should 
lead the 2, but holding King, 10, 9, 7, 2, you 
should lead the 7. 

When the fourth best is a high card like the 
6, 7 or 8, you give very important information 
to your partner, namely, that you hold at least 
three cards higher than the card led, perhaps 
other lower ones. 

Also, if you open your suit with the 4 for 
example, you announce three cards higher : if 
then you follow wdth a 3 or 2, you must still 
hold your three higher cards and thus have 
shown an original five-card suit. 

So also, the 2 led shows a four-card suit as 
you have only three cards above and can have 
no card below. 



20 



Whist Up To Date. 



CHAPTER XI. 



Drill Table. 



Many easil}^ learn to lead correctl}^ them- 
selves, 3'et do not readil}^ credit their partners 
with both the right high cards and the proper 
number remaining in hand after two leads of a 
suit. For such, the following table has been 
prepared : it should be conned and mastered, 
when it will be found that the proper infer- 
ences soon become so mechanical as to demand 
little or no eflFort of memory or attention. 
Your partner's first and second leads are given 
in the first column : in the second are found 
the right cards and the number remaining in 
his hand : also what cards he can not properly 
have. 

He leads He has left Not 



A.— K. 



XXX ( + 



A.-Q. 



Kn. X. 



lO 



A.— Kn. 
A. — lo. 



Q. xx(+). 
Q. Kn. 



Drill Table. 21 



He has left Not 



He leads 

K— A. 

IC.— O. (Kin^ wins). 
K.— Kn. " 

iX. — Q. (King loses). 
K.— Kn. 
K. — lO. 

Q- 
Q- 



Q. 

A. X. Kn. 
A. Q. 

X X. Kn. 
Q X. lo. 
Q. Kn. 



—A. K. X X. Kn. 

— K. (Queen wins). A. X X X ( + ). Kn. 
— K. (Queen loses.) x x x ( + ), Kn. 



Kn.— A. K. Q. X. 

Kn. — K. (Knave wins). A. Q. x x. 

Kn.— Q. " " A. K. x X X (+). 

Kn. — K. (Knave loses). Q. x x. 

Kn.— Q. " " K. x X x (+). 



lo-Q. 
lo — Kn. 



Kn. X. 

Q. X X (-r). 



22 



Whist Up To Date. 



CHAPTER XII. 
Forced Leads. 

These are leads from three-card or two-card 
suits. When you have exhausted 3^our own 
suit, or when circumstances forbid your con- 
tinuing it, you are often driven to lead a suit 
of but three or two cards. 

Or you ma}' be obliged to lead a weak suit 
originalh' from one of the three following 
causes : 

1. Your four- card suit may be trumps, in 
which case it is folly to lead them unless you 
have other high cards to make. 

2. Your four-card suit ma}' be Ace, Queen, 
and two low ones whereupon 3^ou would better 
wait for some other player to open it. 

3. Your four-card suit may be ten high or 
nine high in which case it will profit you noth- 
ing to lead it. 

Note. — If driven to lead such a suit it is cer- 
tainly better for you to lead the highest card 



Forced Leads. 



23 



in it. Your partner, for the time being, may 
be deceived into the belief that you have but 
three. But such belief cannot harm him as 
much as the lead of a small card from such a 
suit, telling him as it does tell him that you 
are opening j^our strong suit and implying the 
promise of future tricks therefrom. 
In short for you to open a suit with a two or any 
such low card which shows four, should prom- 
ise your partner that in that suit you have one 
honor if not two. 

There are six combinations of three cards 
each which are led like four-card suits, as 
follows : 

Holding Lead 

A. Q Kn. A. then Q. 

A. K. Q K. then Q. 

A. K. X K. then A. 

K. Q. Kn K. then Kn. 
K. Q. X. (King wins). K. then X. 

Q. Kn. ID. lo then O. 

In all these cases your partner can credit 
y^ou with but one more card, a misapprehen- 
sion he is forced to labor under. 



24 



Whist Up To Date. 



Holding a suit of three cards containing- 
two honors not in sequence, or an}' single 
honor except Knave, lead low. 

Holding a suit of three, with no card higher 
than Knave, lead the highest ; also if com- 
pelled to lead again, lead the next highest. 

Exception : Holding Queen, Knave and one low, 
lead Queen. 

Holding a suit of two cards onl}', with 
neither Ace nor King, lead the higher of the 
two. 



The reason for leading your best card in the 
last cases of three and two cards respectively 
is as follows : Holding Ace and two small, 
3'ou lead low as Ace is good at an 3^ time. 
Holding King and two small, again 3'-ou lead 
low as 3'ou have two leads in which to draw 
the Ace. Holding Queen and two small, 
again 3'ou lead low, having again two leads in 
which to draw King and Ace, thus establish- 
ing 3^our Queen. But with Knave and two 
small the case is far different. Here 3'ou have 
passed the limit. You cannot in two low leads 
exhaust Ace, King and Queen unless 3'our 
partner has one of them. If he has nothing 
in that suit you cannot possibl}" make 3^our 
Knave. If he has high cards or a high card, 



Forced Leads. 



25 



you would better assist him and lead him your 
best card. What is true of the Knave is true 
of any lower card at the head of a three-card 
^uit. 

So with Ace and one small or King and one 
small, you lead low, but with Queen and one 
-mall, yon cannot win a trick unless your part- 
ner has Ace or King, therefore again you give 
him your best card. This you do in all two- 
card suits when you hold neither Ace nor King. 



Having led the top of a weak suit of three 
cards you must be careful also, not only to lead 
lie higher of the two remaining cards should 
_/ou lead the suit again, but also to follow with 
the higher upon some one's else lead. Thus, 
holding Knave, 7, 2, if you lead the Knave, 
and it is won by an adversary and that vSuit is 
led again 3'ou should play the 7, not the 2. 
Your partner, missing the small card can count 
it in your hand. To play the 2 next after the 
Knave w^ould mark you with no more. So 
also when 3^ou have led the top of a four-card 
^uit with no honor in it, do not pla^^ your low- 
est card until last. Possibly there might occur 
a case w^here, having led 10 from- 10, 9, 4, 2, 
jr from 10, 9, 8, 2, there would seem to be a 
chance of clearing the 9 or 8, in which case 



26 



Whist Up To Date. 



the lowest card may be played to protect the 
suit. But the usual supposition is that the 
play of the smallest card 3'ou can hold in that 
suit, marks you with no more. 

Avoid if possible opening an}^ weak suit 
with a card lower than the nine. 



FORCED LEADS IN TRUMPS. 

In two cases an original weak lead of trumps 
is good 

1 . When holding strength in all the other suits. 

2. When holding a postpo7ied]idin6i. By a post- 

poned hand is meant a hand in which you 
will probably not win tricks in the differ- 
ent suits until the third or fourth round of 
those suits. Thus, with Q. x x., Q. x x 
X., Kn. XXX., and two trumps, the 
trump is usually the better play. So also 
with Q. X X X., K. X X X., 10, X X X., 
and the 10 of trumps you should lead the 
trump. Therefore an original weak lead 
of trumps proclaims either that 3'ou have 
a generally strong hand, or that the tricks 
you can take will be on the later rounds 
of the various suits. 



Second Hand Play. 



27 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Second Hand Play. 

There is no position at the whist table that 
requires more careful attention than that of 
second hand player ; if weak in the suit led, 
he must advantage himself of the information 
conveyed b}' the leader's card to make his high 
cards if possible. If strong, he must pla}^ not 
only to win every possible trick but also to 
block the leader in his purpose of clearing the 
suit. The respectable rule of second ha?id low 
is open to numerous exceptions whereby the 
careful player can secure many tricks. 

These are the five cardinal principles : 

1. Play Ace ox ax koxor led. 

2. holdixg axy combixatiox from 
which you would lead high, play high 
secoxd haxd. 

3. holdixg but two cards, cover a 
card led higher thax the 8. 

4. holdixg three cards, cover an 
honor with an honor. 

5. Holding any number of cards and 
the 10, cover an honor led. 



28 Whist Up To date. 



In detail. 



I. Play Ack ox ax hoxor led. 

Except : Holding A. Kn. x, or A. Kn. x x, it is 
often better to pass King (not Queen) led ; the 
leader will next lead a low card, placing Ace 
with his partner ; this you win with your 
Knave, still holding command of the suit and 
securing the lead. 

Or : Holding Ace and others, Knave led. If the 
leader has already led another suit, this lead 
should be from weakness and you should pass. 



2. . HOLDIXG AXY STROXG COMBIXATIOX FROM 
WHICH YOU WOULD LEAD HIGH, PLAY 
HIGH SECOXD I-IAXD. 

Y^ou do not necessarily play the same card that 
you would lead. Simply decide whether you 
would lead high ; if so, then play to win the 
trick as cheaply as possible. 

Holding a weak suit such as Kn. x x, or Q. x, 
you do not play high second in hand although 
you would lead high. 

Therefore on a low card led, 



Holding 



Pla}' second in hand 
A. 
K. 



A. x X x X X ( 
A. K. {-). 



A. K. O. (-). 



Q. 

Kn 



A. O. Kr. ( + ). 
Q. Kn. lo ( + 



lo. 



Second Hand Play. 



29 



Although, a low card is now led from K. Kn. lo, 
X, (-^), the lo is the better play second in 
hand. 

Conversely, unless you would lead a high 
card, do not play one second in hand. Thus 
from a suit consisting of A. Kn. lo,, x, 
3'ou would lead low, therefore you should play 
low second in hand. A moment's reflection 
will show you that the leader cannot have 
both King and Queen ; therefore one is beyond 
you ; therefore as a trick-winner your lo is 
valueless except to save a possible high card 
in your partner's hand. But that is the very 
card you wish played whereupon you will 
probably win the remaining tricks in that suit. 

There is one suit of peculiar formation and value: 
this is A. O. lo (^). It is called the double 
major tenace. Although a low^ card would 
properly be led from such a suit — unless hold- 
ing six — yet it is better here to play high sec- 
ond in hand. When strong in trumps play lo. 
When weak in trumps, play Queen. Holding 
strength in trumps you can afford to take more 
chances. 

Holding A. K. x x, or K. Q. x x, play low if 

holding four or more trumps. 
Also: with Q. Kn. x, or Kn. lo, x, or lo, 9, x, 

play the lower of the two high cards second 

in hand. 

Holding but two cards, cover a card 
led higher than the 8. 

Do not play Ace on 10 or 9. 
Play King on 8. 



30 Whist Up To Date. 



4. HOI<DING THREK CARDS, COVER AN HONOR 
LED. 

Thus with K. x x, or Q, x x, cover the Knave led. 

Or with K. x x, cover Queen ; do not cover here 
however, if leader is one who leads Queen 
from the old lead of Queen, Knave, 10 ( + )• 

Many do not cover the Knave with the King, 
holding King and two others. Yet it can 
easily be demonstrated to be the correct play. 
It is first fair to infer that that suit is distrib- 
uted nearly equally. Should your partner hold 
doth Ace and Queen it makes no difference 
whether you cover the Knave or not. If your 
partner holds either Ace or Queen it makes 
little difference whether you cover the Knave 
or not. But should third hand hold both Ace 
and Queen you will lose all three tricks in that 
suit by not covering. If you cover, on the 
contrary, the Knave, King and Ace fall to the 
first trick, Queen should win the second, and 
the 10, the third. To be sure if the adversaries 
hold the 10 they will win the third trick ; but 
this would have been theirs had you not cov- 
ered. If your partner holds the 10, he will 
win the third trick — a gain of one for your side. 

With Queen and two low, the Knave led, the 
reasoning is nearly similar, save that third 
hand is likely to play King, holding Ace and 
King and being weak in trumps. 

With King and two low. Queen led, it is just as 
important to cover. Queen should here be led 
from weakness ; if from Queen, Knave and one 



Second Hand Play. 



31 



low, your King is lost anyway if Ace is third 
in hand. If from Queen and one low, you, 
by not covering, lose the chance of making a 
possible Knave in your partner's hand. 

5. Always cover an honor if you hoi.d 
the 10, with any number of cards. 

If you lose the first trick you then hold the 10 
as second best card guarded and have begun 
to clear or establish that suit. 



FOURCHETTES : 

If you hold the cards above and below the 
card led it is general]}^ wise to cover. Thus 
holding King, 10, 8, 6, 3 play 8, not 3, on 7 
led. Or with Ace, Knave, 9, 4, play Knave 
on 10 led. The fall of the low card later 
does not make a trump call. 

AcE, Queen and others : 

Play low on any card not an honor. 
Play Ace on Knave led. 

This is frequently misplayed. Knave must be 
led from weakness. Should your partner hold 
King, your play makes no difference. Should 
third hand hold King, and you play low the ad- 
versaries must w4n the first and the third tricks. 
To cover with the Queen is a w^aste of ammu- 
nition. By playing the Ace you wdn the first 
and the third tricks, as they make then only 
the King. 



32 Whist Up To Date. 



Appendix to Second Hand Pi.ay. 
As the lead of a strengthening card is com- 
ing more and more into prominence, it has 
seemed best to append here some additional 
cases where it pa3'S to cover second in hand on 
a Queen, Knave, lo, or 9 led. These are cases 
which it is hard to classify under rules and the 
list is meant more for reference than for abso- 
lute memorizing. In these cases you cover 
simply to advance the rank and power of certain 
other cards 3^ou hold ; possibly to develop a 
tenace, and at the same time to prevent third 
hand from passing the card led on the princi- 
ple of a finesse. B}^ covering here is meant 
playing the card which you hold next above 
the card led. 

You should cover on 

1. Queen led 

With K. 9, 8, (-^). 

2. Knave led 

With K. 9, 8, X, (-T-). 
Q. 9, 8, X, 



Appendix to Second Hand Play. 



33 



3. Tex led 

With A. O. 9 ( — ). 
A. Kn. 9(-). 
A. Kn. S, 7 ( — 
K. Kn. 9 ( -). 
K. K:i. 8, 7 (-). 
O. Kn. X X ( — ). 
Q 9>x(-). 
Kn, 9. X (-). 
Kn. S, 7 (-). 

4. Nine led 

With A. O. 10 ( — ). 
A. Kn. 10 [ — ). 
A. Kn. S, 7 (-). 
A. 10. 8 (-). 
K. Kn. 8 ( — ). 
K. 10, X (-). 
Q. Kn. 8, X (-> 
O. 10, x(-). 
Q. S, 7 1-). 
Kn. S, 7(-). 
10, 8, X (-). 



34 Whist Up To Date. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
Rule of Eleven. 

Second hand player can often tell by the 
card led, it being the leader's fourth best, ex- 
actl}' what high cards remain in the leader's 
hand. To facilitate this calculation the Rule 
of Eleven has been formulated as follows : 

Deduct the value of the card led 
from eleven, and the remainder wile 
tell you the exact number of cards 

outside THE LEADER'S HAND WHICH ARE 
HIGHER THAN THE CARD LED. 

Thus, if the 8 is led, 8 from ii leaves 3, 
there must be then three cards higher than the 
8 not in the leader's hand. Should you hold 
them all, King, Knave, 9 and others for ex- 
ample, your 9 should win the trick. Or if the 
seven is led and 3'ou hold Ace, King, 10, 8, 
your 8 should win the trick, and the King, the 
proper play on a small card, be held in reserve. 

Although absolute on a fourth best lead, this 
rule will fail if leader opens a three-card suit. 
One of its greatest advantages lies in enabling 



Rule of Eleven. 



35 



you, at second hand, to detect a three-card suit. 
Should 7 be led and you hold Ace, King, 
Knave, 9, 8, the 7 must be from a weak suit ; 
there should be but four cards out above the 7 
and 3'ou hold five. Or, a different case, if 8 is 
led and you hold Ace, Knave, 9 and others, it 
seems at first that you should win the trick 
with the 9. But again you can detect a three- 
card suit if 3^ou consider a moment. If you 
hold all the cards of that suit outside the lead- 
er's hand above the 8, he naturalh^ must hold 
the rest ; but that would give him both King 
and Queen, and holding these, he should prop- 
erly have led one of them ; thus you can place 
him wntli but a three-card suit. Similarly if 
you hold Queen, Knave, 9 and the 8 is led, it 
must be from three. 

In applying this rulk, you must re- 
member THAT YOU CANNOT HOLD ALL THE 
CARDS OUTSIDE THE LEADER'S HAND, HIGHER 
THAN THE CARD LED UNLESS YOU HOLD 
KING OR QUEEN. 



36 



Whist Up To Date. 



CHAPTER XV. 
Third Hand Pi^ay. 

Third Hand is supposed to play to help his 
partner as much as possible ; to give up his 
own strength in the suit led (save in rare cases), 
and not to finesse except with certain recog- 
nized combinations. 

Your partner calls for your best card and 
this you should usuall}^ P^^y ; but holding, 

On a Low Card Led, 

1. A. K. X (+). 

Play King and return Ace at once unless intend- 
ing to lead trumps. 

2. A. K. Q. (+). 

Play Queen and return King at once unless in- 
tending to lead trumps. Partner must mark Ace 
with you and is saved a third round of his suit. 

3. A. Q. (+). 

Play Queen and return Ace at once unless in- 
tending to lead trumps. 

4. A. Q. Kn. (+). 

Play Knave and return Ace as in case (2). 



Third Hand Play. 



37 



5. A. Kn. X, or A. Kn. x x. 

Play Knave if partner leads a four-card suit. If 
he leads the 2, or if he leads the 3 and the 2 falls, 
or if he leads the 4 and the 2 falls and you hold 
the 3, he can have but four cards and you can 
finesse the Knave in comparative safety. Your 
reason is this : he has not both King and Queen. 
You are temporarily the stronger hand and by 
finessing may establish the suit on the first round. 
Having won the trick with Knave, do not return 
Ace but wait for your partner to lead the suit 
again. 

6. K. Q. X (+). 

Play Queen and return King at once. 

7. K. Kn. x (+). 

Play King. The Knave here is usually a wretched 
finesse. 

8. Ace, King alone, or King and Queen alone. 
Win with the higher card and return the other. 
This marks no more in your hand and is not a 
trump signal. 

On a High Card Led. 

When your partner leads a high card, it is 
incumbent upon 3^ou, holding high cards, to 
get out of his way and avoid blocking his suit. 
It is therefore frequently necessary" for you to 
take a trick apparently alread}^ his ; but you 
must remember that, 

You :\IUST NOT TAKE AWAY YOUR PART- 
NER'S SURE TRICK UXEESS YOU ARE PR AC- 



38 Neizt Up To Date. 



TICALLY CERTAIN THAT HE CAN TAKE ALL 
THE REMAINING TRICKS IN THAT SUIT. 

This rule applies to either the first or the 
second round. Should the second round mark 
him with an original four-card suit, the other 
two tricks must be surely marked in his hand 
to allow you to win the trick on the second 
round if it is already- his. 

Therefore, 

On KING led : 

Holding A. Kn. alone, play A. and return Kn. 

at once. 
Holding A. x, play x. 

Holding A. x x ( — ), play x ; if leader next leads 
Kn. again play low ; he has O. x left. 

Holding A. x x x, play x ; if leader next leads 
10, play A.; he must have Q. Kn. left 



On QUEEX led : 

Holding A. Kn. alone, play A., return Knave at 
once. 

Holding A. x, play x. 
Holding A. x x ( — ), play x. 

On KXAVE led : 

Holding A. x : play A. 

Should Knave be led from a five-card suit with 
King and Queen you must get out of your 
partner's Avay, whereupon he can probably 
take the remaining tricks in that suit save in 
case of a very uneven distribution of the cards; 



Third Hand Play. 39 



this is a chance you are forced to take. Should 
Knave be from weakness, you can probably 
win but one trick in that suit, play it as you 
will. 

Holding A. X X : play x on Knave and win his 
next lead of King or Queen with Ace. You 
thus reserve a small card to put him in with 
later. 

Holding A. x x x : play third best on first 
lead, and second best on his second lead of King 
or Queen. This marks Ace guarded in your 
hand. 

Holding A. K. x ( + ): play low if strong in 

trumps. Otherwise play King. 
Holding A. Q. x ( + ): play low. The Knave 

will either win or clear your suit. 



•On TEN led : 

Holding A. x x ( + ), play low. 
Holding A. x x x x (-f ), play Ace. 
Holding K. or Q., with more than one low, play 
low. 

Holding A. or K. or Q. with but a single guard 

play high. 
Holding A. K. alone play A. return K. 
Holding A. K. X (-]-), play K. return A. 
Holding A. Q. alone play Q. 
Holding A. Q x(H-), playQ. 
Holding A. Kn. x (+) play x. 
Holding K. Kn. x (4-) play x. 
Holding K. Q. X ( + ) play Q. 
In the last five cases lo must be led from but a 
three-card suit. 



40 Whist Up To Date. 



The Rule of Eleven can often be applied 
successfully third in hand. Should your part- 
ner, for example, lead the 8 and you hold Ace, 
Queen, lo, 4, the suit is practically established 
and you can win with the Queen, and, being 
strong in trumps, lead them. Or again, he leads 
the 8 and 3^ou hold Ace, Queen, 5, 3. You win 
with Queen and return Ace on which trick an 
adversary plays 10 or Knave. Again the three 
cards outstanding against your partner's 8 are 
accounted for and you should start trumps, 
holding four or more, for his now established 
suit. 



Unblocking. 



41 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Unblocking. 

When you hold exactly y^^z^r cards in a su?^ 
from which your partner leads a card which 
may be from a suit oi Jive or more, (therefore 
not King or 2) you should play your lowest 
card last, treating the remaining three cards as 
an original three-card suit. 

Therefore if you hold 10, 9, 8, 2, and part- 
ner leads Ace play the 8 third in hand ; next 
play the 9 ; then 10 ; and last of all the 2. After 
playing the 8 in such a suit, if obliged to re- 
turn it, you should lead back the 10. You 
must consider temporarily that the 2 is not in 
your hand. The extreme case occurs when 
Ace is led and 3'ou, at third hand hold 
King, Queen, Knave, and one low. On the 
Ace you should play Knave ; should second 
hand trump on the next lead you should nev- 
ertheless pla}' Queen ; also if now obliged to 
discard from the remaining cards you should 
discard the King. 



42 



Whist Up lo Date. 



Should your partner lead a suit on which, 
in order to unblock, 3^ou play your third best, 
and which is later proven to be but a four- card 
suitj y^ou must next play your second best, else 
you will call for trumps. But the low card 
falling the third round is not a call. 

HoivDING FOUR EXACTLY OF YOUR PART- 
NER'S SUIT, PLAY YOUR LOWEST CARD LAST 
SAVE WHERE HE LEADS THE KiNG OR THE 
2 OR IS OTHERWISE MARKED WITH ONLY A 
FOUR CARD SUIT. 



Fourth Hand Play. 43 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Fourth Hand Pi.ay. 

While fourth hand is apparently the easiest 
position of all to play correctly, yet there are 
frequent opportunities for profitable plays, 
several examples of which are here given. 

1. The leader leads King from K. Q. x x ; second 

hand, your partner plays 8; third hand low, 
and you holding A. x x, or A. x x x, refuse to 
win the trick. On the second round leader, 
placing Ace with his partner, leads low. Your 
partner may win the trick with Knave or lo 
thus saving your Ace, or he may be calling for 
crumps in which case you can win the trick 
with the Ace and lead them. 

2. Again on the lead of King, you at fourth hand 

with A. Kn. x, or A. Kn. x x, may pass the first 
trick, w^in the second with the Knave and still 
hold command of the suit while securing the 
lead. 

3. Should your partner play a card that might 

be the beginning of a trump signal, second in 
hand, you holding three trumps and three or 
four intermediate cards of the suit led should 
play your next to lowest card. If your part- 
ner completes his signal you can now echo 
on the same trick. Otherwise play higher than 
at first. The small card falling later is not a call* 



44 



V7HIST Up To Date. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
Returning Partner's Lead. 

Alwa^^s remember that 3^ou should not lead 
your partner's suit after there have been two 
rounds of it until trumps have been accounted 
for. Of course, exceptional circumstances 
arise where such a lead becomes a good play, 
as when you are forcing a strong adversary ; 
but almost always your partner should be the 
one to lead the third round of his suit, not 3'ou. 

You ma}^, however, lead the seco?id ro\ind at 
any time you deem advantageous. 

After your partner has led his suit once, and 
it comes 3'our turn to lead, you must consider 
carefull}^ whether it will profit you more to 
continue his suit or to open your own. 

As the ideal hand at whist is one in which 
the trumps are exhausted and a long suit 
brought in, so the combined efforts of the two 
partners should be directed towards the discov- 
ering and establishing of their best suit and. 
that as soon as possible. 



Returning Partner's Lead 45 



If, therefore, your partner leads spades and 
you win the trick, or, losing it, secure the lead 
on the next vSuit led, you should continue his 
spades except when holding a suit you are 
nearly sure is stronger, i. e. longer or easier to 
clear than his. Thus if he leads a 2, showing 
a four- card suit, you might better open a five- 
card suit of your own. Or again should he 
lead low from a probable five-card suit, as 
shown by the drop of the cards, you would 
still better change if you hold a good suit 
which is easy to clear. Thus, your partner 
leads a 3 ; you wan and the 2 does not fall. 
He probably has a five-card suit unless an ad- 
versary is calling. You, however, would now 
better change to a suit like K. Q. Kn. x or K. 
Q. Kn. X X, or A. Q. Kn. x (+); or even to 
K. Kn. 10, X X, or Q. Kn. 10 x x, as any of 
these except perhaps the two last mentioned is 
easy to establish. 

But if you have the command of your part- 
ner's suit, you should return it at once unless 
you wish to lead trumps : this 3'ou should do 
before showing your own great suit. 

Or if you have an honor in his suit you 
should return it even if it is at the head of 
three or even four remaining. In this case, 
holding some great suit of your own, it may 



46 



Whist Up To date. 



be preferable to start that, reserving the honor 
in his suit to lead him later, or to regain the 
lead with. Still, unless having some cogent 
reason, it is usually better to return the honor, 
announce that you have done the best you can 
do for him and then turn your attention to 
your own strong suit. 

Even when holding neither the command 
nor an honor it is better to return your part- 
ner's suit wdien it is your long suit also. If 
that is his best suit, and yours likewise you 
would surely better cling to what you have in 
preference to opening some other weaker suit 
or making a forced lead, thereb}^ assisting the 
adversaries in clearing what must be their suit. 
Should you be very long in your partner's suit 
it will probably soon be trumped : but that is 
often an advantage to you. If 3'ou are not 
strong enough to draw trumps now, you may 
be after 3'ou have forced one or two. Always 
remember that the one who is very short of 
the first suit led is probably long in trumps. 
If, therefore, 3'ou deprive him of a trump at 
the beginning of the hand he may not have 
four to lead when his suit is established. 

It is also better to continue 3'our partner^s 
suit although having but two small cards left 
^ather than open some suit of your own suck 



Returning Partner's Lead. 47 



as K. Q. X X, or K. X X X, or O. X X X ; in 
fact any such weak four-card suit. If you re- 
turn his suit in such a case, leading the higher 
of the two cards, 3^ou may clear it for him or 
perhaps he may win a trick in it and, leading it 
again, clear it for himself On the other hand, 
by opening a weak four-card suit of your own, 
you ma}' deprive him of, a: id perhaps sacrifice, 
a card of re-entr}' important for him to retain. 
This is a possible result not justified by 3'our 
suit. 

You must remember that it will undoubtedly 
help your partner's hand more for you to re- 
turn his suit rather than for him to lead it 
again himself, even if, on the first round, you 
played only the 9 or 10 third in hand, and even 
if fourth hand won that trick with the Knave; 
3'et fourth hand may also hold the Ace : this 
he will be compelled to play upon your return 
lead. Were 3^our partner to lead his own suit 
again, fourth hand might save his Ace, win- 
ning with a smaller card. 

It is frequently quoted that you are not to 
return your partner's suit when you win the 
first trick cheaply, perhaps with Queen or 
Knave. This is a silly and fallacious idea. 
Pray from whom is your partner to get a second 
lead of his suit if not from you ? The player 



48 Whist Up To Date. 



who was second in hand to his lead will hardly 
be simple enough to lead it up to him. It is 
embarrassing when fourth hand leads through 
him. And it is surely better for you to return 
it to him than for him to lead it again himself. 
If you return it he at least knows six cards in 
that suit before he plays his second card. He 
also knows whether to expect any more assist- 
ance from you, and from the card led back to 
him can determine the length of your suit : he 
can then finesse to his best advantage. (See 
Finesse.) 

Also, with weak trumps, and having held 
but two originally of your partner's suit, it is 
often wise to return the one remaining, stand- 
ing ready to trump the third round when he 
again leads the suit. 

The superficial pla3'er imagines, when his 
partner returns a low card in his suit at once, 
that he has no more ; whereupon he immedi- 
ately leads it again and is correspondingly de- 
jected or indignant when his partner follows 
suit to the third round. The fault lies with 
himself He wishes to establish the arbitrary 
convention that the return of a low card at 
once, signifies no more. This he considers to 
absolve him from all inference to be gained by 
the drop of the cards. He frequently says : 



Returning Partner's Lead. 49 



I wouldn't have led that the third time if I 
had not thought you would trump it." Yet 
what better could he do than lead it again ? If 
it is the best suit you and he together have, if 
you have no other good suit to open, if it is 
established against him, in all these cases he 
surely would better lead it again rather than 
open another suit. If the adversaries hold the 
best card in his suit they are bound to win 
with it. Why not make them play it while 
having the opportunity ? 

In short by returning your partner's lead 
3'ou tell him that you think it more profitable 
to continue his suit, using your suits to assist 
his. To change from his suit and lead your 
own tells him that you consider yours better 
than his, and invites his assistance on that. 

Thousands of hands are wasted and lost 
through a vague idea that one must show his 
own suit. Reverence for this ancient supersti- 
tion impels B., his partner A. having led him 
spades, to open a four-card diamond suit with 
I King or Queen at the head. X. and Y., their 
adversaries, perhaps now secure the lead and 
establish the remaining suit b\' judiciously 
leading it back and forth two or three times. 
Then X. or Y. starts trumps from four, having 
a suit established. Now even if A. or B. has 



50 



Whist Up To Date. 



four trumps and secures the lead with the last 
trump, neither one has an established suit to 
bring in and in leading either suit again it falls 
to the adversary who is thus enabled to make 
his good cards. 

Establish one suit. Don't leave two suits 
in a half-cleared condition. The hand is too 
short, a chance to lead too valuable, and the 
modern adversary too skillful, to admit of any 
delay on 3^our part or 3'our partner's in estab- 
lishing your best suit while you have the 
chance. Therefore 

You return your partner's suit, 

1. Holding the coinimaxd. 

2. Holding an honor, generally. 

3. When you are long of it 

4. When yol' cannot open a new sltt 

AD V ANT A G E or S LY . 

5. Holding but the one and bkinGt 
weak in trumps. 



Trumps. 



51 



CHAPTER XIX. 



Trumps. 



I. 



The Leads. 



Holding an J- three honors, lead as in plain 
suits. 

Holding any two face-cards (not Ace) and 
the lo, lead as in plain suits. Otherwise lead 
low except in a suit of six or more cards. 



In detail. 



Holding 



Lead 

Kn. 

A. 

A. 

Kn. 



A. K. Q. Kn. X (+). 
A. K. Kn. X X (+). 
A. Q. Kn. X (+). 
K. Q. Kn. X X (+). 



K. Q. ID, X X (+) 

K. O. lo, X. 

Q. Kn. ID, X (+). 



K. 



lO. 



A. X X X X X. 
A. K. X X X. 



4tli best. 



K. Kn. lo, X (+). 



52 Whist Up To Date. 



Holding Lead 
A. K. X X. 4th best 

K. Q. X X X. 
K. Q. XX. 



A. X X X X X X (+)• A. 
A. K. xxxx(+). A. 
K. Q. X X X X (+). Q. 



The forced leads in trumps are practically 
the same as in plain suits. When leading a 
suit of two, however, alwa3^s lead the higher 
even w^ith Ace or King. 



2. Second Hand. 

Here a more backward game is played. 
There is not that great] necessity for playing 
your high cards early in the hand as they 
will win on their merits. Therefore on a small 



card led, 

Holding Play 

A. K. X. X. 

A. K. X X. X. 

A. K. X X X. X. 

A. Q. Kn. X. X 

A. Q. Kn. X X (+)• Kn. 

A. Q. 10 (+). 10. 

K. Q. X. Q. 



Trumps. 



53 



Holding 



Play 



K. Q. X X (+). 
K. Kn. lo (+). 
Q. Kn. lo (+). 



X. 



lO. 



lO. 



The rules for covering in two-card or three- 
card suits are practical^ the same as in plain 
suits except : 

Holding any high card — not the Ace — singly 
guarded, play the higher, not only on any card 
above the 8, but also on any low card led unless 
the trump lead is made in answer to a call. 



Holding any number of trumps except fkree 
exactly, the pla}" is the same as in plain suits 
save with A, K. alone or K. Q. alone, which 
in trumps are played in their natural order, 
the lower card first. Holding exactly three 
trumps including Ace and King, you play Ace 
and return King. While in plain suits this 
pla3" shows no more, in trump it proclaims ex- 
actly three originally. So with King and 
Queen in a suit of three pla}^ King and return 
Queen. With Ace, King, Queen, alone, play 
King and return Queen. 

With Ace and King, or King and Queen in 
a suit of more than three, play as in plain suits. 



J. Third Hand, 



54 



Whist Up To Date. 



With Ace, Queen and one or more small, 
pla}' Queen and return Ace. 

With Ace and Queen alone, play Ace and 
return Queen. 

Having played an honor third in hand, in 
cases not mentioned before, return the higher 
of two remaining trumps, the lowest of three 
or more. Here it is essential to show number 
rather than some high card remaining, such as 
Knave for instance. 

When your partner leads a high trump, or 
when (upon his lead) such a high one is played 
second in hand that you cannot play higher, 
you should play your low cards as follows : 

1. With exactly two, pla^' the lower. 

2. With exactly three, pla}^ first the in- 

termediate, then the lowest. 

3. With more than three, play the lowest. 

Therefore if you pla}^ first a small trump 
and then a higher one, you can not have had 
exactly three originally : you must have now, 
either no more or two more. This problem 
your partner can usually solve by the drop of 
the cards. 



Trumps. 



55 



^. Tmmpiyig In. 

AVhEN weak in trumps — THREE OR FEWER 

YOU SHOULD AT ONCE TRUMP IN ON A 

DOUBTFUL TRICK. 

If you pass such a trick in the hope that 
3^our partner can win it, you tell him definitely 
you are strong in trumps. 

With four or more you pass a doubt- 
ful TRICK. 

Thereby you treat yourself to a discard ; 
you show your partner a weak suit ; you 
place the lead beyond you ; and you proclaim 
strength in trumps. You should not, how- 
ever, pass a trick surely against you unless 
wishing such an action to be construed as a 
trump signal. 

Holding but three trumps you naturally 
trump with the lowest. Holding four or more 
it is better to trump with the third best. The 
fall of your low trump later informs 3^our part- 
ner that you have two more higher than your 
first one. 

Thus, holding K. Kn, 4, 2, trump first with the 4 
and then with the 2. Or holding K, 9, 5, 4, 2, use 
first the 5, then play 4, then 2, showing five origi- 
nally. 

The only objection to such play is that it informs 
your adversaries of your trump strength. But here 
your whist judgment must be brought to bear. If an 



56 Whist Up To Date. 



ad%'ersar%* is calling, has shown strength in trumps 
or has a powerful hand, you will do better not to dis- 
close vour strength. But if your partner is forcing 
you. or has the strong hand you would better give 
him such information. 

Again where the gap between the third best and 
the fourth best is too great, it is unwise to use the 
third best to trump in with. While correct to play 
it holding K. S, 5, 3, or 10. 9, S, 6. or A. O. Kn. 10. it 
is not wise holding A. K. 10, 4. or K. Kn. 9. 3. In 
the two last cases the 9 and 10 are too powerful cards 
to be wasted. 

When the adversaries lead tnimps. after yoii 
have trumped with your third best, you would 
better play your second best if it is not too 
valuable, rather than disclose your strength 
by dropping to the low card at once. Such a 
play often prevents the adversaries from count- 
ing trumps accurately, and may stop their lead. 

J . Th c T) li mp Sig n a /. 
A trump signal can be played in three ways : 
(a'' By playing an unnecessarily high card fol- 
lowed by a lower one of the same suit. 
'•h' By discarding from an unopened suit, a 9 
or higher. 

(c) By refusing to trnmp a trick surely against 
you. 

In detail. 

(a~; By playing nrst an unnecessarily high card 
followed by a lower one of the same suit. 



Trumps. 



57 



This is an inversion of the ordinay play and 
constitutes a call for trumps. But the first 
card must have been proven unnecessarily high. 
An 8 played on a 7 or 6 led and a low one 
dropped later would not be a trump call. Had 
the 8 and lower one been played on the King 
and Ace, it would have been one. So the 10 
played first followed by a low card is not proven 
to be a call. The 10 might have been played 
properly second in hand from several combi- 
nations. 

(b) B}' discarding from an unopened suit a 9 

or higher. 

Strength in trumps is here a normal inference : 
the player discarding is very short of one suit, 
and discards such a card that he ought to have 
but few remaining in the discarded suit. The 
balance of his hand is made up of the third suit 
and trumps, with probable strength in both. 
A trump lead in such cases has proved so val- 
uable that the rule has been derived. It is not 
an arbitrary convention but a perfectly natural 
inference. 

(c) By refusing to trump a trick surely against 

you. 

This is frequently a good play. You certainly 
reap a three-fold advantage. You give a signal: 
place the lead beyond you and discard a weak 
card. Before deciding upon this play, con- 
sider whether you may not have to discard 
several times as when the adversaries can con- 
tinue that suit with taking cards. If so, it is 



58 Whist Up To Date. 



rarely worth while ; you would better adjust 
your hand to circumstances and accept the 
force. 

Although holding such trumps that you would lead 
them were it your lead, it is not always necessary to 
signal for them. If your partner shows some suit 
you would better call. On the adversaries' suits it is 
often much wiser to keep your strength in trumps 
temporarily hidden. Your adversaries may thus be 
led into rashly leading them themselves. At any 
time when winning cards are marked in your part- 
ner's hand you, holding five or more trumps, should 
call for his benefit. 



6. The Echo. 

The Echo is but a trump signal played in 
either a plain suit or trumps after yo\M- partner 
has called and at the first opportunity : It signi- 
fies that 3^ou hold exactly three trumps. 

As one is so much more apt to have three 
trumps -than to have four, when one's partner 
leads them, it has been found advisable to 
abandon the old rule of echoing with four and 
to confine the echo to exactly three trumps. 

It can be played third in hand when holding 
Ace, King, and one low, or King, Queen and 
one low, by pla34ng first the higher, then the 
lower of the two high cards* 

The echo is of great value as it frequently 



Trumps. 



59 



obviates the necessity of a third round and 
allows you and your partner to make your 
trumps separateh\ 



7. T/ie Sub- Echo, 
The Sub-Echo shows 7nore than three trumps, 
j It is often of the greatest importance to your 
|. partner to know that you have a fourth trump 
I remaining after 3^ou have shown three. 

The Sub-Echo is given by refusing to echo 
upon your first opportunity and then echoing 
upon 3^our second. 

For example : Some suit is led upon w aich your 
partner signals for trumps. Should the adversaries 

^ now lead another suit in which you hold 8, 6, 2, you 

( ' should, with three trumps, play first the 6 then the 
2 making the simple echo. But in this same case, 

'1' should you hold Jour trumps, you should play first 
the 6, refusing your first chance to echo, and then 
make your sub-echo with the 8 and the 2. 

Or again : Ydu win your partner's lead of trumps 
with the King and having the 7, 6, 2 remaining, lead 
back the 1 ; should some other suit now^ be led you 

|j «hould give the sub- echo to proclaim your four 
trumps. 

I Should your partner lead high trumps and should 
i you have four low ones, you must play your next to 
lowest first : by next playing a higher trump you tell 
not three exactly and the missing low card being 
marked in your hand, counts you for four originally. 



60 



Yv'HisT Up To Date 



To ECHO AFTKR HAVING O^XE REFUSED 
TO, MARKS YOU WITH FOUR OR MORE TRUMPS 
ORIGIXALEY. 

8. Response to a Signal. 
Holding but tivo trumps lead the higher. 
Holding three trumps lead the highest. 
Holding four or more lead the lowest. 

Except : 

Willi A. X X X ( — ) lead Ace then lowest. 

With A. K. XX ( — ) lead King then Ace. 

With K. O. X X ( — ) lead Queen then King. 
You must remember that to go dozvn in trumps 
after having led them once, shows but three as you 
lead the highest of three. On the contrary to go 
up shows four or more. Therefore to lead King and 
.go up to Ace, or to lead Queen and go up to King, 
shows strength in trumps. Remember that in the^e 
cases you lead in answer to a signal exactly as you 
would play third in hand. 

Having had four trumps such as King, 8, 4, 2, orig- 
inally and having already trumped in with the 4. lead 
the 2 in answer to a call. But with Ace, 8, 4, 2, hav- 
ing trumped with 4, lead first Ace then 2. 

g. Con tin n Ing Tru mps. 

The question frequently arises whether or 
not you should continue trumps when your 
partner has called for them or is leading them 
and one of the adversaries has none. Your 



Trumps. 



61 



partiicr is iisiially entitled to three jvunds of 
triunps. If, however, when lead the sec- 
ond round, the player on your left gives out, 
you would better wait and let your partner 
continue if he wishes. Should the pla\^er on 
! your right give out, you should generally lead 
the third trump as your partner is in the more 
advantageous position, pla3ang last to the trick. 



10. Value of Four Trumps. 
A player who has four trumps is in a posi- 
tion to accomplish much for himself and his 
partner. Should some adversary' hold even 
five and attempt to exhaust them, his four, ju- 
diciously pla^^ed may prove a serious obstacle. 
With four in some one's else hand it becomes a 
tiial of skill as to who shall first succeed in 
clearing a suit and drawing trumps. With 
three in every one's else hand, you with four 
are superior at the outset. 

Holding four trumps you usually should 
lead them as soon as a suit is established in 
•either your hand or your partner's. This of 
course 3'ou will not do when an adversary has 
led or signalled for trumps. You must remem- 
ber that the one who opens a suit of four 
trumps unless with three honors in it does so 
at a disadvantage. He ma}' sacrifice a card of 



62 



Vv'HisT Up To Date. 



his partner's \Yliich would otherwise make, or 
he ma}' allow his adversaries to win a trick 
which never would have been theirs had they 
themselves led trumps. Therefore you should 
not assume such a disadvantage without the 
compensation of an established suit. 

Do not lead from four trumps without a rea- 
son : the best reason is because in your hand or 
3'our partner' s there are certain cards with which 
you should win tricks, trumps having ^.-en 
exhausted. 

Having led from four trumps for an estab- 
lished suit 3^ou must be wary about winnings 
the second trick. It is often of benefit to re- 
tain 3'our winning trump and allow the adver- 
saries to win that trick. 

For example, spades are established in your 
partner's hand ; no adversary has shown trump 
strength so you open a suit of four trumps, 
hearts, holding Ace, 9, 6, 3. Should your 
partner win your lead of the 3 with King and 
return so lov»- a card that you can count him 
with two remaining, probably, you should 
here play your Ace. If he has two left and 
you remain with two after eight have been 
played, the Oueen is the one missing card, 
and this you should force with your estab- 
lished suit, hoping to make your trumps and 
vour partner's separately. 
But should he return a card which can be at the 
best but the higher of two, as the S or 7 (prob- 



Trumps. 



63 



ably) you should not play 3^our Ace. If you 
do, you must either lead trumps again and 
perhaps allow an adversary, who also had four 
trumps originally, to win that trick and draw 
3'our other trump, or you must abandon your 
trump lead having drawn but eight. On such 
a return from your partner you should pass 
and allow the adversaries to win that trick. 
Your partner may now have another trump to 
ruff with ; or he may secure the lead in some 
other suit and lead trumps again, or you may 
secure the lead yourself and can then lead the 
winning card and force any remaining trump 
with your estabb'^'ied suit. 



64 



Whist Up To Date. 



CHAPTER XX. 
Leading Through. 

This is returning the lead of a suit led by 
your left-hand adversar}^ and frequentl}^ proves 
beneficial : you and 3^our partner both know 
that third hand has pla3^ed his best card and 
therefore 3'ou can lead, and he can finesse, 
with this in mind. 
I. With more than two remaining. 

Here it is usually disadvantageous to lead the 
suit until after trumps have been played or are 
accounted for. The original leader is too apt 
to win your return lead, and lead again for his 
partner to trump, while you are helpless and 
must follow suit. It is a great temptation to 
return a lead from 3^our left when you have 
won the first trick cheaply and when you can 
lead through the strong hand up to weakness • 
yet if you are long in that suit it is apt to re- 
sult in disaster. 

After trumps are accounted ^or, it becomes a 
good lead to lead through the leader's iiand 
with three or even more. Here, holding the 
command you would better lead l.ow ; your 
partner may win a cheap trick. 



Leading Through. 



65 



The objection to leading through, when long, in 
a plain suit, does not obtain in trumps, where 
it is frequently a good play, especially w^hen 
trumps are led late in hand and third hand is 
proven weak. 

2. With but two remaining. 

Here it is often profitable to lead through the 
original leader. If he holds the master card, 
he is forced to play it ; not holding it he is 
placed at a great disadvantage. In leading 
through, holding but two, lead the higher. 
However, 

Do not lead the best card. 

Do not lead, holding the second best guarded. 

ij 3. With but one remaining. 

In this case, leading through is frequently a suc- 
cessful play, especially when you are weak in 
trumps and want to trump in. There is no 
objection to this lead at any time when you 
cannot continue your own or your partner's 
suit, or are unable to open a fresh suit to ad- 
vantage. 

The second best is almost always a good play as 
it may save the command in your partner's 
hand. 

Do not lead the best card. 



66 



Whist' Up To Date 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Leading Up To. 

This is leading the suit that has already 
been led on your right. It is usuall}^ a disas- 
trous thing to do if you held but two, three, 
or even four originally. When you are very 
long of it, however, the chances are that third 
hand and your partner have not many. In 
such a case therefore you may continue it, but 
only with the idea of giving your partner a 
chance to ruff : vshould your left-hand adver- 
sary trump, 3'our partner will probably over- 
trump. 

Holding the second best and one or more 
others it is rarely good for you to continue that 
suit. If you wait for the leader to lead again, 
3^ou will remain in command. But when you 
hold a great suit such as Ace, King, and three 
others, or Ace, King, Queen and one or two, 
it is often advantageous, after winning second 
in hand with the King or Queen, to continue 
the suit first with the Ace, and then with 



Leading Up To. 



67 



either the King, or a low one for 3^our partner 
to ruff. 

It is a good play to lead the second best un- 
guarded. Should 3^our partner hold the com- 
mand, your card will save it in his hand ; if 
the adversaries hold the command, your card 
is doomed. 



68 



Whist Up To Date. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Management of Your Suit. 

You should remember that 3'our purpose 
should be, not onl}' to take tricks in 3'our own 
suit as 3^ou lead it, but also so to lead and clear 
it that, should trumps be exhausted and 3^ou 
secure the lead, you would have good cards to 
play. 

After two rounds therefore, if 3-our suit is 
not established in either your hand or 3'our 
partner's, 3^ou should generalh' lead it again. 
However, 

You should not lead it, 

1. When second hand holds the balance of the 

suit and 3^ou must lead a losing card : here 
3'ou sacrifice to fourth hand an3' trump 
3^our partner ma3' play. 

2. When one adversary- will discard and the 

other will trump. 

3. When an adversar3' whose partner has 

called for trumps is likel3' to trump in : 
3'OU are here forcing the wrong hand. 



Management of Your Suit. 69 



If, after two rounds, your suit is established 
in your hand or your partner's and it looks as 
though an adversar}^ would trump the third 
round, you should not continue it unless abso- 
lutely obliged to. If you have four trumps 
you should now lead them. Not holding four, 
you should try to give your partner the lead, 
so that he, holding four ma}^ lead them for 
your benefit. You, therefore, may make any 
one of the four following leads : 

1. Trumps, when holding four or mork. 

Rarely with three : only when strength in 
another suit is marked in your hand or your 
partner's. 

2. Through the left-hand adversary. 

Only when holding but one or two remaining in 
his suit : and not then with the second best 
guarded. 

3. Your partner's suit. 

Only if there has been but one round of it pre- 
viously. 

4. Another suit which you can open 

with a strengthening card. 

Thus you can lead a Queen from O. x, or from 
Q. Kn. X, or a Knave or a lo or a 9 at the head 
of a suit of two or three. Such a weak suit 
you should open rather than to open a three- 
card or four-card suit with a lone King or 
Queen or Knave in it. Do not open a weak 



70 Whist Up lO date. 



suit here or elsewhere with a card under the 
9 if you possibly can avoid it. 

If unable to make an}' one of these four 
plays, you would better continue your own 
suit even if an adversary does trump it. 

Do 7iot lead weak trumps or open an un- 
protected suit like King or Queen and two or 
three low. 

While it is a fairly well accepted principle 
of whist that you must not force your partner 
if you are weak in trumps, yet you must re- 
member that there is a sharp distinction be- 
tween deliberately leading a card of some suit, 
not ^--our own, which 3'ou know he must trump 
to win, and continuing 3'our own suit in order 
to clear it. The first 3'ou generally should not 
do witho\at some ver}' good reason : 3'ou must 
also remember that such a pla^^, if 3'ou do 
make it, entitles 3^our partner to credit you at 
once, and correctly with at least four trumps. 
The secona 3'ou are not onhr at libert3' to do, 
but usualh' should do : if 3^our partner does 
not wish to trump, he is at liberty to pass the 
trick, to discard, and to allow 3'our suit to clear. 

Of course these rules are but general guides 
and must be disregarded ofttLir^es as circum- 
stances dictate. After establisbing your suit, 
even if \'ou hold four trumps, it ma3' be wise 



Management of Your Suit. 71 



to lead your suit a third time if you can 
thereby force a calling adversary to ruff it and 
weaken his hand. You may branch off from 
j your suit to a short weak suit in the hope of 
making a small trump, if the hand developes 
, in such a way as to make that plan seem profit- 
[I able. Or you may lead similarly your part- 
ner's suit the third round if you are thus able 
to force an adversary who is strong in trumps. 
No rule obtains always or is so rigid that it 
cannot be judiciously broken; but 3'ou must 
be pretty sure that you have found the right 
occasion to break it before so doing. 



72 



Whist Up To Date. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
Finesse. 

Finesse in whist, means trying to win a 
trick with a card lower than, and not in se- 
quence to, another card which you can play. 

1. In your partner's suit. 

Holding Ace and Queen, alone or with others, 
play Queen. 

Holding Ace, Queen and Knave, alone or with 

others, play Knave. 
Holding Ace and Knave with one or two small, 

play Knave w^hen your partner is marked with 

but a four-card suit. 
Do not finesse Knave from King and Knave, 

alone or with others. 

2. In 3^ our right-hand adversary's suit. 

On the first round, play according to rules for 
second-hand play. 

On the second round let your play be governed 
by the card which third hand played to the 
first trick. If he pla3^ed Knave which your 
partner won w^ith the Queen, you, holding Ace 
and 9, on the second round should play 9, not 
Ace. But unless fairly sure that you can win 



Finesse. 



73 



the trick with another card, you should play 
the command in the right-hand adversary's 
suit upon the second round. 

3. In your left-hand adversary's suit. 

If the second round of this suit is returned 
through you, you, holding the command, 
should play it. 

4. In 3^our own suit. 

It is usually wise to finesse against one card 
upon the return of your suit. For example : 
You lead the 2 from Ace, Knave, 6, 2 ; your 
partner wins with King and returns the 8 • 
you should here finesse Knave except with a 
hand otherwise very weak. If, however, your 
partner wins with Queen and returns the 8, 
there is no finesse, King must be beyond you 
and you must play Ace. Similarly having led 
from King Knave, and others, and the Ace 
having been played, you should usually finesse 
Knave upon return of that suit. 

On the return of your own suit by your partner, 
if the best card is marked beyond you, you 
should generally nol play your best card. For 
example : you lead 3 from King, 10, 6, 3 ; 
your partner wnns with Queen and returns the 
] 8 ; the Ace must be beyond you, so you play 

10 nol King. Should your right-hand adver- 
sary, however, have played Knave on this 
I trick, you should play King, as, if yonr King 

loses to Ace, your 10 is left in command. 

This same principle of not playing your best card 
upon the return of your suit, when the win- 

1 



74 



Whist Up To Date 



ning card is marked beyond you, should gov- 
ern your play even when second ha7id has al- 
ready won the tricky i. e. you lead the 3 from 
Queen, 8, 6, 3 ; your partner wins with King 
and returns the 9 ; on this, your right-hand 
adversary plays 10 whereupon you must play 
low, not Queen. This is the reasoning : Ace 
must be beyond you in fourth hand, and your 
Queen is lost if you play it. In addition to 
this your partner evidently has not Knave, so 
that the adversaries will w4n not only your 
Queen but the next trick also. If Ace and 
Knave are both beyond you they will both win 
regardless of your play. Your sole chance is 
that Ace alone lies in that hand and must fall. 
In trumps you can finesse more deeply and take 
more chances. 

5. In general. 

Never attempt to finesse at third hand, when sec- 
ond hand has not followed suit. Always play 
your best card or one equal in value to it. Any 
finesse you may try to make at third hand is 
aimed at the subsequent capture of some card 
which second hand may hold. If second hand 
fails to follow suit, you have no reason for not 
playing your best card. 



Discard. 



75 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
Discard. 

The one great principle of discard is that 
you should throw away the card you can spare 
best from the hand. 

Until a short time ago the general rule was 
that you should discard from your weakest 
suit in all cases except when trump strength was 
declared against you, but then you should dis- 
card from your strongest suit on the ground 
that you would not be able to bring in the en- 
tire suit with adverse trump strength. To the 
part of this rule which orders the discard of 

; your weakest suit, trumps not being declared, 
there is no objection ; to the latter part of it 
however which compels you to throw from 
your strong suit, with trumps declared against 

i you, there are three objections. Under the 
old rule 

I. You HELP THK ADVERSARIES. 

Upon the adversaries' lead of spades — trumps — 



76 Whist Up To Date. 



should you discard a heart they will be simple 
indeed to lead that suit up to your declared 
strength. Rather by a careful avoidance of the 
hearts and by generous finessing in their own 
suits will they try to shut out your suit, so that 
you may fail to win in it even one trick. 
Surely such direct information to the adver- 
saries does not pay. 

2. You FRKQUKNTI.Y DECEIVE YOUR PART- 
NER. 

Should the adversaries be leading spades — 
trumps — upon which you discard a heart, and 
should your partner secure the lead, having no 

• great suit of his own, he must lead you a 
heart : and having but two or three he must 
lead his top card to your declared suit. Now 
should 3'ou hold a wondrous strong suit with 
many honors, such a play is pretty and effect- 
ive : but this is a minority case. Should 3'our 
suit be long but headed by the Knave, 10, or 
9, and should your partner lead King or Queen 
at the head of tw^o or three, a trick vanishes 
with no compensation. At the end of such a 
liand — alas ! even sometimes in the middle— 
your partner complains that you have misin- 
formed him, whereupon 3^ou spread out your 
hand and ask what better you could have done. 
Close inspection revealing no other play possi- 
ble under this obligatory rule, you conclude 
that the lost trick w^as an offering on the altar 
of science and the game continues. That trick 
should have been saved and a rule which per- 



Discard. 



77 



niits and encourages such blind sacrifices 
needs revision. 

3. You WEAKEN YOUR OWN SUIT. 

To be forced to show your partner 3'our suit by 
discarding from what is at best but slender 
strength, often loses one trick, perhaps more. 
To be obliged to throw awa}^ one of a good 
five-card suit may cheat you out of a trick 
should you ever establish it : to discard once 
from a five-card suit may so unguard it that it 
becomes of little or no value. 

It SO often happens that the one leading 
trumps is experimenting, that he is deceived as 
to his or his partner's strength, or that he has 
been misled by a false card ! Many times the 
balance of power is so nicely adjusted that the 
possession of a single high card may turn the 
scale your way. Surely in such cases you 
want, 3'OU must have every ounce of strength, 
every card which ma}^ win a trick. 

A rule showing so mau}^ and such defects 
can surely be bettered. A new rule must rem- 
edy these faults ; it must not force you defi- 
nitely to tell the adversaries wherein lies your 
strength when they lead trumps ; it must not 
misinform your partner enticing him to the 
wanton risk of a high card ; it must guard all 
the strength you may possibly need in 3'our best 



78 " Whist Up To Date. 



suit. Such a rule has been formulated and l :as 
been in use for nearly a year. It neither assists 
the wily adversar^^ nor bewilders an attentive 
partner : it precipitates no mistaken sacrifices 
nor encroaches upon one's treasured strong suit. 
This rule is 

Your first discard sholxd be from 
the suit which you do not wish your 
partner to i.ead ; and this no matter 
with whom trump strength is declared. 

This discard does not mark you with abso- 
lute weakness. You ma}^ discard from A. K. 
X, or A. X X, or K. X X x, or Q. x x x, or 
any such suit. Should the adversaries judge 
you weak in such a suit and lead up to your 
hand you may make a doubtful card. If 3^our 
partner, searching for your suit, leads the wrong 
one of the other two suits, you will probably 
have some strength there and you have kept 
your own suit intact. 

Once accept and play by this rule and all 
confusion disappears. You no longer have two 
discards but one permanent and definite one. 
The question of what you shall discard upon 
your partner's continuing the adversaries' 
trump lead no longer vexes you. Your plaj 



Discard. 



79 



is ready to your hand and. calls for no effort 
from either you or 3^our partner. 



Inferences Derived From Discards. 
(Spades are trumps/ 

1. Partner discards a heart. 

Of the other two suits lead the one best suited 
to your hand. 

2. Partner discards first a heart, then a 

diamond. 

Lead him your best club. Having no clubs, 
lead a diamond ; it is his second best suit. 

3. Partner discards first a low heart, then a 

higher one. 

Of the other two suits, lead your better one, he 
can probably assist on both. 

4. Partner discards on a trump lead first a 

higher then a lower heart. 

Lead him your best heart — he is making a re- 
verse discard. 

5. Partner discards a card higher than the 8 

from an unopened suit. 
Lead him a trump — this is a direct call. 

6. Partner discards the Ace of an unopened 

suit. 

Lead him your best card in that suit — he should 
have the entire command of it. 



80 Whist Up To Date. 



7. Partner discards the King of an unopened 
suit. 

Lead that suit to him — he has the entire com- 
mand of it except the Ace. 

Remember in discarding that both an Ace 
and a King need to be guarded with one small 
card ; that a Queen needs two guards, and that 
a Knave needs three. 



Reverse Discard. 



81 



CHAPTER XXV. 
Rkvkrsk Discard. 

It sometimes happens that your hand is so 
composed that you are unable to discard prop- 
erly without unguarding certain cards. You 
should now discard first a higher then a lower 
card of your long suit. Just as a higher card 
then a lower is a trump signal before trumps 
are out, i. e., show strength in trumps : so a 
higher then a lower card in your own suit show 
strength in that. 

For example : You hold one spade, which is 
the trump ; King and one low in diamonds ; 
King, Queen and one low in clubs, and King, 
Knave, lo, 8, 5, 3, 2", in hearts. Should your 
partner hold a weak hand 3^ou would make a 
dangerous discard to throw away from either 
weak suit. Yet should you throw hearts it 
will appear to be your weak suit. To prevent 
his possible error in reading your hand you can 
reverse your discard, throwing first the 3, then 



82 Whist Up To Date. 



the 2 thus marking this suit as your long one. 
This you should do only when you are sure 
such information will help him more than it 
will the adversaries. 

Never discard the lov/est card of your strong 
suit first ; if you must discard from your strong 
suit, throw a higher card reserving the lowest 
one with which to complete a reverse discard. 



False Cards. 



83 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Fai.se Cards. 

False cards are a part of modern whist as it 
is now played. It is nseless to deny them ex- 
istence, or argue about their immorality. 
They are weapons which your adversary will 
certainly employ against you and therefore you 
should learn both their value and their use. 
To afford an adversary information when you 
can as well avoid it, is contrary to the idea of 
the game. Your partner is the one whom you 
are to inform, not the adversary. When your 
information will help your adversary more than 
it will your partner, then is the time to with- 
hold it. 

But, on the other hand, do not false card 
wantonly ; that is the other and worse extreme. 
By continually throwing false cards you not 
I only disturb and hamper your partner but 3^ou 
create in him a feeling of uncertainty and dis- 
trust of your play. 

Always remember that a false card is pointed 
at the adversary. When it is likely to harm 
your partner, every excuse for its use is gone. 



84 Whist Up To Date. 



This then is the broad underlying principle : 

When some weak and unprotected 
portion of your hand is about to be 
exposed to the advantage of the ad- 
versary, a false card becomes a legit- 
imate means of defence. 

Examples. 

1. \"ou hold King and Queen of trumps alone. A 
low trump is led cn your right. If you win 
with King second in hand, the leader holding 
Ace must finesse against you upon the return 
of trumps as you n ay have played King from 
King alone, or from King and one low. You 
will thus probably win with both cards. 

2. You hold lo and one small in trumps. Your 
right-hand adversary leads the King of trumps 
evidently from four. It is now impossible to 
make your lo, and by play'ng it on the King 
you may discourage him from continuing his 
lead of trumps. You may later make your 
small trump by ruffing with it. 

3. You hold King and Queen, or King and Knave, 
alone in trumps. If you are compelled to ruff, 
and use your King, the adversaries will be 
likely to force you again thinking you must 
hold either Ace or no more. 

4. You hold Queen, Knave, 10, and one low of a 
plain suit. The Ace is led on your right ; you 
naturally play low. LTpon the King led next 
your Queen becomes an excellent false card 
The leader must now either abandon his sui 
or continue it in absolute ignorance of the po- 
sition of the Knave and 10. 



The Thirteenth Card. 85 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

The Thirteenth Card. 

The thirteenth card of a suit usually should 
not be led until late in the hand, and then only 
with a definite end in view : it is rarely right 
to lead it before the ninth trick. 

There are three occasions, before trumps 
have been exhausted, when the lead of a thir- 
teenth card is of distinct benefit. 

1. When 3^ou wish 3^our partner to play his 
best trump upon it. 

2. When you wish to allow him to discard 
and give the adversaries the lead. 

3. When fourth hand is marked without 
trumps. 

Second hand usually discards upon a thir- 
teenth card. He trumps in exceptional cases 
only ; as when his partner has called for 
trumps and he can trump with a high card ; 
or when he has a single fairly high trump which 
.will be sure to fall to the next lead and which 
may prove expensive for third hand to win. 



86 



Whist Up To Date. 



Third hand has to decide whether his part- 
ner wishes him to pla}^ his be^t trump, or to 
discard. The proper play is u^^ually obvious. 
If your partner is evidentl}^ weak and leads a 
thirteenth card late in hand, it is probably to 
place the lead in an adversary's hand to make 
that adversary lead up to you. Therefore you 
should discard. But should 3'our partner have 
ruffed with several trumps, the last one being 
fairly high, and should he then lead a thir- 
teenth card, the inference would be that he has 
a high trump or two left and wishes to make 
them separately from yours ; therefore 3'ou 
should trump with 3'our highest trump and 
allow him to trump again. 

It is unwise to lead a thirteenth card while 
you and your partner have winning cards still 
to play in other suits, as the adversaries will 
discard from those suits and thus neutralize 
any advantage which 3^our play may have 
gained for you. 

When you are marked with all the remain- 
ing cards of a suit, each has the value of a 
thirteenth card and, w^hen led, should be 
treated as such. 



Exceptional Leads. 87 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

ExcEPTioNAi. Leads. 

There are certain constantly recurring occa- 
sions when it is better not to make the conven- 
tional leads ; when 3^ou can often gain a trick 
or two by first testing your partner's hand and 
inviting his co-operation in your scheme. Sev- 
eral such cases are given. 

I. Holding A. K. Kn. or A. K. Kn. x. 

Here it is better to lead King and then change 
suit so that, upon partner's return of first suit, 
you may finesse Knave. 

2. Holding A. K. x x. 

Here it is often better to lead King and then 
change suit as in the case above. Your part- 
ner may be able to return Knave or Ten for 
you to finesse. 

3. Holding A. K. x x, or A. K. x x x, or 

A. X X X X X. 

When opening such a suit late in hand, and hold- 
ing the last trump or trumps, lead a low card ; 
it will best clear your suit. ' 

4. Holding A. Kn. lo, x, or A. Kn. lo, x x. 

I^ate in the hand after trumps are all played or 



^8 Whist Up To Date. 



when but one remains in, the Knave is often a 
successful lead. It tempts second hand to 
cover and thus clears the suit. 

5. Leading partner's pro'bable suit. 

If, from the adversaries' play or your partner's 
discard 3^ou can determine your partner's suit 
you should lead to benefit his hand as follows : 

Holding two cards, lead the higher. 

Holding three cards, lead the highest. 

Holding four, including Ace or any two honors, 
lead high : with a single honor, not the Ace, 
generally lead low. 

6. Leading for the possible tricks. 

At the end of the hand, a situation like this 
often occurs : each player remains with four 
cards and the last two trumps are marked in 
some one player's hand. As but two tricks are 
left to be played for, therefore in opening a 
suit, you should lead it as if it were a tzuo-card 
suit. Thus, from Queen and three small you 
should lead Queen as if Irom Queen and one 
small. 



Logical Inferences. 



89 



CHAPTER XXIX 
Logical Inferences. 

The failure of many pla3^ers to count cor- 
rectly their partners' hands, is due largely to 
their not making the correct inferences at the 
proper time. Attention is here invited to many 
simple inferences too frequently overlooked. 
It is fair to infer, 

1. That if 3'our partner opens the hand with 
a four-card suit, he has no five-card suit, save 
possibly trumps. 

2. That if he does not continue hi^ suit after 
the second round of it, it is probably estab- 
lished. 

3. That if he ruffs a doubtful trick, he prob- 
ably has but two trumps remaining. 

4. That the player holding but one or two 
of the first suit led, is likel}^ to hold four 
trumps. 

5. That a player who opens the hand with 



90 



Whist Qp To Date. 



a weak suit has no good suit and is pla^^ng a 
waiting game. 

6. That in the last case his four-card suit 
may be trumps, it may be all low cards, or it 
may contain a tenace or a single high card 
from which he deems it unwise to lead. 

7. That, if 3'ou open a suit with a winning 
card, and the two does not fall, some one is 
calling or your partner may be unblocking. 

8. That, in the last case, if two small cards 
are missing, two players are calling, or one is 
calling and yoxvc partner is unblocking. 

9. That if your partner returns your suit 
before opening his own, he considers 3^ours the 
best to continue with. 

10. That, if your partner leads trumps from 
weakness, he must be strong in all the other 
suits or must hold a postponed hand. 



Don't. 



91 



CHAPTER XXX. 
Don't. 

1. Don't change suit without a very good 
reason : if the adversaries have the winning 
cards in your suit the}^ are usually bound to 
make them. 

2. Don't lead trumps without a purpose just 
because you don't know what else to do. 

3. Don't lead your partner's suit for the 
third round until after trumps have been ac- 
counted for. 

4. Don't ''lead through" when long of a 
suit until after trumps have been accounted for. 

5. Don't lead through " when holding the 
second best card once guarded. 

6. Don't ''lead up to" unless willing to 
force partner. 

7. Don't blank an Ace or unguard a King 
or Queen. 

8. Don't finesse if second hand does not fol- 
low suit. 

! 



92 



Whist Up To Date. 



9. Don't be so absorbed in leading trumps 
or your established suit that you fail to note 
the discards : they are most important. 

10 Don't retain the Ace of trumps if your 
partner wishes 3'ou to ruff with it. It is not 
a permanent investment and can win but one 
trick. 

1 1 . Don't be diverted from your suit because 
an adversar}" pla3's a high card upon 3'our first 
lead of an honor. If he has no more, whether 
he trumps or discards upon your second lead, 
the card he plays will be an index to his hand. 

12. Don't be stubborn. If you propose a 
certain scheme of the game b}' your play, and 
3'our partner deliberately disregards it and ad- 
vances another, 3'ou would better yield to him, 
he has the latest advices. 

13. Don't be always tr^'ing for brillmnt coups, 
and don't play to the unusual. Be satisfied 
with a close observance of rules made b}' pla}'- 
ers who have devoted their time to patient 
stud}^ of the game. It is the close, conven- 
tional, conservative pla^^er who wins in the 
long run, and is popular as a partner. 



WHIST UP TO DAT 

PART II. 



PART IL 

The Modified Gamf. 



To 7ny partners, 
CHARLES S. KNOWLES, 
CHART ON L, BECKER, 
and 

WILLL4M DONALD, 
in appreciation of their study and advice 
during the iiiceptioio 
and subsequent tests of this game, 
I gratefully dedicate Part II of this book 

Chari.es Stuart Street. 



April, iSgy, 



Verbiim sat sapienh. 



The player who^ having something 
good to do^ does it, and having noth- 
ing good to do, does no harm y plays 
sound whist. 



INTRODUCTION. 

In April, 1897, the author first presented 
the system of whist known as the Modified 
Game. The favor with which it was then re- 
ceived, and in which it has since become deepl}^ 
rooted is doubtless due to the dissatisfaction of 
many players with the. exacting restrictions of 
the straight long-suit game. There is no 
doubt that while whist-players were vexing 
their brains with a complicated formula of 
leads, "Knave followed b}^ Ace shows five, 
followed by King, shows six, etc.," they were 
missing many vital points in the game : with 
them whist had sunk to the level of a mental 
arithmetic problem, the end and aim of which 
was the gift and receipt of much useless in- 
formation. The long-suit game gave no op- 
tion in the opening. Starting always with the 
longest suit it laboriously unfolded the numer- 
ical holding, regardless of the further possibil- 
ties of the hand ; regardless of the chances 
of using such a suit ultimatel}' ; regardless of 
the value of the leader's trump holding. 

Modified Whist undertook the emancipation 
of the malcontents. It offered a broad and 
elastic system : it advocated long leads from 
suits wherein there was a fair chance for their 



98 



Introduction. 



success, and short leads from hands suited to 
short leads, it smiled upon strengthening cards. 
But its very breadth and depth made it a quick- 
sand in which inexperienced players were swal- 
lowed. They gave it a casual (usually incor- 
rect) trial, proclaimed it worthless, and aban- 
doned it. Yet crude as it was in its early days 
it broadened and benefited the game wherever 
it was pla3^ed ; it awakened players and lifted 
them from the rut wherein much of their in- 
telligence was stifled ; and it proved an at- 
tractive and congenial vehicle for many ex- 
perts who tested it. Its value is now showr 
by its endurance. But time has developed cer- 
tain flaws in its make-up. Experience in pla^^- 
ing it with and against the best players in the 
country has shown changes to be necessary, 
and these changes have therefore been made. 
Some leads have been changed, and new points 
have been added. The system as now printed 
is what the author believes to be the most sci- 
entific way of playing whist ; to be a trick- 
winner ; and to ofi'er to the average player a 
fascinating study and pursuit. But it is not 
reasonable to suppose that the final discovery 
in whist has been made. Doubtless, ideas of 
value lurk in the future while plays now cher- 
ished will some da}' be consigned to oblivion. 



CHAPTER i. 

Argument ix Behai^f of This Gamk. 

The system of play known as ''Modified 
Whist ' ' is not a mechanical system of sudden 
birth or arbitrary arrangement. It has not 
sprung Athene-like from the head of an}' King 
of whist. Only after long trial has it been pa- 
tiently compiled from the long- suit and the 
short-suit games. It aims to embod}^ the good 
points of each and to remedy the w^eaknesses 
of both. 

To THE LOXG-SUITER. 

If you, disdaining that mushroom growth 
the short-suiter with his too often provokingly 
successful leads, have faithfully played the 
long-suit game, you must have noticed in it 
certain flaws ; >'ou must have seen vanish 
tricks which 3"ou vagueh' felt could have been 
saved had 3'our S3'Stem allowed you a different 
course of action ; nay, rather, 3'ou often must 
have seen hands in w^hich the reckless short- 
suiter has reaped a plenteous harvest by lead- 



100 The Modified Game. 



ing his weak suit first, not his strong one. But 
consoled with the idea that in the long run 
you will win, you have kept on with your con- 
scientious routine game, you have spurned 
short leads and have played your fourth best 
from useless suits because you have known of 
nothing better upon which to rely. 

The corner-stone of the long-suit game is 
this: "Your first lead should be from your 
longest suit." Under this banner men have 
fought and died in the faith ; hands have been 
righteously opened and hopelessl}^ wrecked ; 
proud Kings and reluctant Queens have been 
torn from partner's hand only to be slain by 
the adversary ; alluring singletons and savory 
short suits have been alike powerless to divert 
the long-suiter from playing his long suit first 
regardless of what it consists. 

For instance, have not you, yourself, with- 
out trump strength, often opened a four-card 
or five- card suit, nine high or ten high, and 
caused your partner to lose a King or Queen 
third hand upon it ? Do you think it was suf- 
ficient compensation to him for such a loss to 
know that you had three or four more in that 
suit although you probably failed to win a 
trick with any one of them ? 

Or again without strength in trumps have 



Argument in Behalf of This Game. 101 



yoa not opened a four-card suit of A. Q. x x, 
or A. Kn. x x, or K. Kn. x x, and found all 
the strength of that suit against you and 
made but one trick, possibly none, in it? If 
you had waited for some one else to open that 
suit, would you not have fared much better? 

Or again, without trump strength, have you 
not opened a four-card suit with a single King, 
or Queen, or Knave in it and found all the 
strength of that suit against you and seen your 
high card fail to win a trick ? If you had let 
some other player open that suit might not 
your court card have won ? In short are you 
not obeying the letter and not the spirit of the 
law? Are you not trying to establish, as in 
the first instance, suits w^hich in the great ma- 
jority of cases can never be established, or to 
bring in, as in the other cases, suits in which 
there is nothing to bring in ? 

To THE Short-Suiter. 
If you, pitying the pathetic eflforts of the 
wooden long-suit player as he blindly tries to 
cast all hands, be they large or small, round, 
triangular, or oval, in his one little square 
mould, if you, I repeat, have led singletons 
and short suits and later have eagerly trumped 
those suits, you must have noticed certain 
flaws in your system ; you frequently must 



102 The Modified Game. 



have shaken 3'our partner's confidence in you, 
b}^ calling upon him to pla}^ sometimes upon a 
lead from length, other times upon a short 
lead, he could not tell which, being absolutely 
in the dark as to \Yhat 3^ou held in 3^our hand. 

Have you not often led a singleton or a two- 
card suit although 3^ou held strength in trumps, 
/. e.. four or more, and, after 3'ou have been 
forced several times, have not the adversaries 
exhausted your remaining trumps and triumph- 
antly brought in their long-suit ? 

To All Whist Players. 

You must realize that there is one great, 
important point in whist which is so great that 
it transcends all others. That point is this : 

The player who opens a suit with a 
small card does so at a great cost : 
this cost he should incur only when 
he is fairly^ sure that he can re-im- 
burse himself and his partner by' a 
subsequent gain in the hand either 
by establishing the suit or by ruffing 

IT. 

Forgetful of this the long-suiter errs in his 
low leads from 2cseless five-card suits and in his 
ruthle^5S exposure of single court cards and 
tenaces in four-card suits when he has no 



Argument in Behalf of This Game. 103 



strength in trumps ; and the short-suiter errs 
in his lead of a singleton or a two-card suit 
when he has such strength. 

The Modified Whist player, however, comes 
to the fore with this principle firmly in mind 
and outlines his game as follows : while he 
leads his longest suit zvhen he holds strejigth m 
trumps, no matter of what that suit consists, 
whether it contains real or possible tenaces, or 
has not a card in it higher than the six, he 
halts there. For w4th no strength in trumps 
he avoids, if possible, opening such suits. 

While he often leads short suits and even 
singletons when weak in trumps, he never 
makes such leads when holding strong trumps 
or some good suit which can readily be estab- 
lished. 

In short then if you are to become a Modi- 
fied Whist pla3^er you must build your game 
upon these five principles. 

(Throughout this part of the book by a 
small card is meant a card under the nine.) 

1. Do NOT LEAD YOUR LOWEST CARD FROM 
A SUIT WHICH YOU ARE UNLIKELY TO ES- 
TABLISH OR AT LEAST TO PROTECT. 

2. Do NOT LEAD YOUR LOWEST CARD FROM 
A FOUR-CARD SUIT NOT CONTAINING TWO 



104 The Modified Game. 



HONORS, OR AN HONOR (NOT THE KnAVE) 
AND THE lO. 

3. Do NOT LEAD A SINGLETON OR ANY 
SHORT SUIT WHEN YOU HAYE STRENGTH IN 
TRUMPS. 

4. Unless holding trump strength, 
ayoid leading four-card suits contain- 
ING A. Q., A. Kn., K. Kn., or a single 
King or Qqehn or no high card. 

5. al^yay's lead your longest suit no 
matter of what it consists when you 
have four trumps. 

Trump strength or trump weakness is usu 
ally the one point which decides the treatment 
of the hand. 

To build a permanent structure upon such a 
foundation requires new plans and a new st^^e 
of architecture. Most of the high-card, num- 
ber-showing leads must be abandoned ; so too 
must go the fourth best lead with its trivial 
information often so advantageous to the oppo- 
nent. In short you must begin with a clean 
score and allot as far as is possible to each card 
or to each lead, a certain definite and unchang- 
ing meaning which shall announce far more 
than the long-suiter's cry, This is my long- 
suit in which I ma}^ or may not take tricks ; 



p 

Argument in Behalf of This Game, 105 



be content with this, of the rest of my hand I am 
powerless to speak : " far more than the short- 
suiter's cr}', " Of this suit I have a scarcity ; 
return it early and often so that I may shelter 
my trumps ere these Philistines extract them!" 

And 3^et the moment it is proposed to divide 
the cards into groups, giving each group a cer- 
tain, definite meaning, the long-suiter wags 
his solemn head and croaks, "artificial sys- 
tem" or "arbitrary conventions." This he 
does forgetful that his own game — nay, that 
any system of whist for that matter, is clad in 
a panoply of such conventions. 

Why should the lead of a King in the long- 
suit game show but four in the suit ? Is there 
an}^ deductive reasoning in such a rule ? If 
not, what is it but an arbitrary convention ? 
I Why does Ace when follow^ed by Queen 
show four and w^hen followed by Knave, five 
or more ? An arbitrary convention. What is 
a signal for trumps but the result of an agree- 
ment so to consider the play of a higher and 
later a lower card ? An arbitrary convention. 
What is the corner stone of the long-suit 
game, the lead of the longest suit first ? An 
arbitrary convention. No ! Sir Long-suiter, 
don't accuse this system of founding itself 
upon arbitrary conventions — your game is rid- 



106 The Modified Game. 



died with them. The only difference existing 
between your conventions and those upon 
which this game stands, lies in the fact that 
these are more clear, more comprehensive, 
more useful. No system can exist without 
conventions ; some known platform must be 
agreed upon else the playing of two hands in 
successful union is impossible, and the game, 
as far as intellectual effort is concerned, ranks 
on a par with blind-man's buff*. 

Therefore, as some conventions are necessary, 
all you have to do is to accept the few and eas- 
ily learned conventions of this system of Mod- 
ified Whist and you are able at once to tell 
your partner by your original lead not only 
whether you are on the attack or on the de- 
fense, but also exactly what particular set of 
tactics you deem best suited to your hand. 



The Original Lead. 



107 



The Original Lead. 

The modified game recognizes seven ways ol 
opening a hand. These are divided into the 
Attack and the Defense. 

Under the Attack we have, 

1. The Lead of Strong Trumps. 

2. The Lead of Weak Trumps. 

3. The Lead of the lowest card in the 

suit, usually a 2, 3, or 4. 

Under the Defense we have, 

1. The Lead of Ace, King, Queen and 

Knave. 

2. The Lead of a strengthening card, 

e. Queen, Knave, Ten or Nine. 

3. The Lead of the 5, 6, 7, or 8, either. 

as an intermediate or as a short suit. 

4. The Lead of any singleton, or two- 

card suit. 



108 



The Modified Game. 



CHAPTER II. 

The Attack. 

I, The Lead of St7'ong Trumps. 

By strong trumps a suit of four or more is 
meant. 

With six trumps it nearly always pays ta 
lead them, certainly if they contain high cards. 
In certain rare cases where an honor is turned 
to your right and you have no suit or no good 
cards to make, you may prefer to lead a strength- 
ening card in a weak suit ; you may thus pro- 
voke a trump lead from the adversaries. Still 
in the long run you are more likely to win 
than to lose by leading from six trumps at 
once. 

With five trumps containing three honors 
3'OU should generally lead them at once : with 
two honors, one honor, or none, and no four- 
card suit it is imperative to lead them : but 
with a four-card or five-card suit which needs 
help from your partner for its development. 



The Attack. 



109 



lead the plain suit first, as he may be able to 
ruff it, and thus aid you in establishing it. 

With four trumps and three three-card suits, 
the trump is usuall}^ the best lead regardless of 
what the plain suits contain. 

Vv^ith a few exceptions the vSystem of trump 
leads is nearh' the same as that described in 
the long- suit game, pages 51 and 52. The 
system in full is here given including all vari- 
ations. 



The Strong Trump Leads. 



Holding any three honors, or holding both 
King and Queen with the 10, lead as in plain 
suits, American Leads. 



In detail, 
I. Lead ACE with 

A. X X X X X X (-^). 
A. K. Kn. X X (+). 
A. Q. Kn. X (+). 
A. K. X X X X (-}")• 



2. Lead KING with 
K. Q. Kn. X. 
K. Q. 10 X. 



110 The Modified Game. 



3. I.ead QUEEN with 
A. K. Q. xx(+). 
K. Q. 10, X X (+). 
Q. Kn. 10, X ( + ). 
Q. Kn. 9, X (-h). 



4. Lead KNAVE from 
A. K. Q. Kn. X (+) 
K. Q. Kn. X X (+). 
A. Kn. 10, X ("h). 
K. Kn. 10, X ( + ). 
Kn. 10, 9, X (+). 
Kn. 10, 8, X (+). 



5. Lead 10 with 

10, 9, 8, X (+). 
10, 9, 7, X ( + ). 



From all other combinations, it is generally 
better to lead the fourth best. Sometimes 
when opening a low trump from a suit of five 
it is better to lead the lowest of the suit ; such 
a lead would be in the nature of a false card 
which could not harm one's partner and might 
tempt an incautious adversary, marking you 
with but four, to pursue the trump lead to his 
own destruction. 



The Attack. 



Ill 



CHAPTER nr. 

The Attack (continued). 

2. The Lead of Weak Triimps. 

By weak tramps a suit of three or fewer is 
meant. 

The lead of three trumps, two trumps or 
even a single trump is advantageous in four 
cases. 

(a) Holdiag a great suit practically established 

with guards in the other suits. 

(b) Holdiag strength in all the other suits. 

(c) Holding a postponed hand. (See page 26). 

(d) Holding a great suit practically established 

with one sure card of re-entry. A trump 
lead from such a hand is a speculation ; it 
can rarely lose more than one or two 
tricks and often gains four or five. 



The Weak Trump Leads. 



Holding A. Q. x, A. Kn. x, K. Kn. x, lead 
low. 

Holding Ace and two low, or K. and two 
low, or Queen, and tw^o lowr, lead the middle 



112 The Modified Game. 



card even if it be a lo or 9. While this lead 
can hardly confuse your partner, to whom you 
wish simply to convey the information that 
3^ou want trumps out, it may upset the oppo- 
nents especially when 3^ou pla}^ the low card 
on the second round. As you have apparent!}' 
led from weakness they will often finesse 
against 3^ou on the second or third round and 
thereby allow you to win a trick w^hich you 
could not otherwise secure. 

Holding three trumps containing two honors 
in sequence, lead the highest. 

Holding no card above the Knave, lead the 
highest. 

Holding an}' two trumps, lead the higher. 



The Attack. 



113 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Attack (continued). 

J. The Lead of the Lowest Card of Your Suit, 
Usually the ^, J, or ^. 

Than this, there has been devised in whist 
no lead more important, more informator}', 
more useful. It not only announces a suit 
worth trying for, but it also proclaims either a 
certain degree of trump strength or certain 
cards of re-entry in the side suits. 

This lead means much more than the old 
fourth-best lead and encourages your partner to 
add such declared strength to his own hand 
and to pla}' a more forward game on that ac- 
count. Unless, however, his hand was strong 
enough to warrant an immediate trump lead 
before you led your suit, his best play is to re- 
turn the plain suit first in order to develop and 
establish it if it be a strong suit, or to enable 
you to ruff it should it happen to be a short 
suit or a singleton. 



114 The Modified Game. 



Sometimes it happens that the lowest card 
you have is a 5, 6, 7, or 8 in which case it might 
be imagined that confusion would arise. But 
the drop of the cards and the fact that you are 
playing up in the suit wall usually make the 
position plain to your partner. 

After the suit is proven to be long, your 
partner should be able to count upon 3^ou either 
to establish it, or to prevent the adversaries 
from establishing it against him. 



The Defense. 115 



CHAPTER V. 

The Defense. 

I. The Lead of Ace, King, Queen, or Knave 
from Snits of Four or More. 

The Ace is led from suits of six or more ; 
also from suits wherein it occurs with the 
Queen and the Knave in which latter case it is 
followed by the Queen from suits of four and 
the Knave from five or more. It is also led 
from suits of exactly five when the hand is 
otherwise very weak, or contains a single card 
or none of another suit. In this last case the 
probability is that some one else holds but a 
single card of 3^our suit : if the player holding 
such a single card be an adversary, it behooves 
you to make your Ace while you can ; if he be 
your partner, and should lead, as he probably 
will lead, the suit of which you hold a single- 
ton, a double ruff may be established at once 
and a handsome crop of tricks be the result. 

The Ace led followed by King shows a hand 
of little value, and informs partner that you 



116 The Modified Game. 



are simply making 3'our good cards while you 
have the chance and that he must expect little 
or no aid from you. 

The Ace led followed by Queen, Knave or a 
small card shows simply that you deem it 
wise to make your Ace, and are tr>4ng to clear 
the suit so that you ma}' use it to harass the 
adversaries with or to win tricks with as occa- 
sion ma}' present. 

The Ace followed by any small card except 
the lowest, shows a hand of no very great 
strength , with but few other tricks in it — a hand 
more adapted to defensive than to forward play. 

The Ace followed by the low^est card shows 
a suit of exactly cards with a singleton or 
none of another suit. 



The King led followed by Ace, means that 
there are further possibilities in the hand ; that 
you think it best to take in those two tricks 
at once, but also that you will be heaid from 
again, later in the hand. In short it implies 
some reserved strength. The King led los- 
ing to the Ace shows the Queen and a long 
suit ; or the Queen and the Knave in a suit 
of any length ; or the Queen and the Ten in 
a suit of any length. There should be some 



The Defense. 



117 



strength back of this lead either in length 
or other high cards, as the lead from King, 
Queen, and one or two others is avoided if 
possible. 

The Queen is led from Queen, Knave, Ten 
and one or more, or from Queen, Knave, Nine 
and one or more. 

The Knave ma}^ be led from a suit of any 
length in which it occurs with King and lo. 
It is also led from Knave, lo, 9 and one or 
more, or Knave, 10, 8, and one or more. 

The lead of Knave is a good one to return. 
If from a strong suit, your return lead will 
probably clear it ; if from a weak suit the ad- 
versaries, holding the high cards, must make 
them and 3^our return lead will do no harm. 

It is certainly better, therefore, to return a 
suit opened by your partner with Knave than 
to open anything but a good strong suit of 
3'our own. Just as in the long-suit game, the 
Knave shows either extreme strength, or ex- 
treme weakness and is a doubtful card, so in 
the Modified Game the same is true. 



118 The Modified Game. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Defense. 

2. The Lead of a Streiigthenijig Card. 

Nowhere does the Modified Game diflfer 
more from the strict long-suit game than in the 
frequent use made of the lead of a strengthen- 
ing card. In the play of a hand containing 
either strong trumps, or a good suit, the two 
S3'stems are at one ; but given a hand wherein 
the longest suit is of but four cards, with no 
trump strength, and the S3^stems are at once 
opposed. For, while the strict long-suiter 
leads low from A. Q. x x, K. Kn. x x or 
X X X X, the player of the Modified Game re- 
fuses so to do, unless holding strength in 
trumps, deeming such leads contrar}^ to his idea 
of sound whist. With a four-card suit in such 
condition that he cannot open it he casts 
around him for some other lead. Or rather he 
decides that here is a hand in which the open- 
ing lead is apt to prove a detriment rather than 
a benefit, and so he aims to transfer that lead 



The Defense. 119 



to an adversary with the knowledge that event- 
ually his ow^n best suit will, in all likelihood, 
be opened by some one else more advantage- 
ously to him than if he should open it himself. 

The strict long-suiter is here spoken of, for 
dissension stalks abroad in the long-suit camp 
and many otherwise sound long-suit players 
have profited by bitter experience and have 
already adopted this much of the enemy's 
tactics ; so that the player w^ho leads the 2 from 
7, 6, 4, 2, is happily becoming rare with the 
prospect of soon merging, like the Dodo, into 
a historic past. 

It is often argued that a strengthening card 
is led to assist one's partner and that with two 
adversaries and but one partner the chances of 
success are adverse. A different view of the lead 
of a strengthening card is here suggested. The 
Modified Whist player leads it, not because it 
is frequently a short lead and he is playing for 
a ruff ; not because he thinks it will greatly 
benefit his partner though this is what he hopes 
for ; but because he has no good plan of action 
'which will tend to make tricks for him and so 
he places the lead elsewhere. In fact, this 
lead is often of the greatest benefit when the 
adversaries hold all the high cards of the suit 
so led. A player holding the Ace and the 



120 The Modified Game. 



King of a suit will probably make them both. 
If you lead a tea and compel him to play his 
King, what do you do ? You simply allow 
him to win with a card he was sure to win 
with thereb}^ depriving him of a re-entry card ; 
and you compel him either to continue that 
suit or to lead some other in which you hope 
to win tricks. He cannot continue his suit 
forever and after exhausting it must lead some- 
thing else. He may not w4sh to, he may dis- 
tinctly prefer not to, but like yourself he must 
lead, and so your suit is often opened up to 
you as you had hoped and longed for. 

The lead of a strengthening card is as in 
formatory as any of the other openings ; it tells 
your partner that you have no plan of cam- 
paign to advance and that any trick you may 
take will come later. It leaves him free to 
propose any set of tactics and many times ma- 
terially assists him by its demoralizing effects 
on the opponents ; they hesitate to open any 
suit up to you as they fear your concealed 
strength in tenaces or single court cards. In 
short this lead rarely hurts and often aids your 
partner ; it costs you nothing to make it ; and 
it often draws from an adversary a re-entry 
card he would much prefer to retain. Having 
led a strengthening card and having again re- 



The Defense. 



121 



gained the lead, continue with the same suit 
unless you have learned from the drop of the 
cards that another would be better for your 
partner. 

Lead. 

Queen only from Q. Kn. x, or Q. Kn. 
Knave from Kn. lo, x, or Kn. lo, or Kn. x. 
Ten at the head of any suit of two, three, or 
four cards, preferably when it occurs 
with the nine. 
Nine at the head of any suit of two, three, or 
four cards, preferably when it occurs 
with the eight. 

A weak suit headed with a card below the 9 
should be avoided as long as possible. 

With many short-suit players it has long 
been a favorite play to lead Queen from Queen 
and one small. The author wishes to state 
that he considers this play a sure loser in the 
long run. The Queen if retained often wins 
over third hand on an original lead from the 
left ; it often wins on the second round owing 
to the original leader's finessing Knave from 
Ace, Knave, or King, Knave, on the return of 
his suit ; it often wins fourth hand on a 
strengthening Knave led ; and at second hand 
is placed most advantageously on the same 
lead. 



122 The Modified Game. 



The same method of reasoning applies to the 
Knave and two small. Unless the Queen oc- 
curs with the Knave, or the Knave with the 
ID, either card when led is more apt to benefit 
the adversary than one's partner. 

Of course the value of the lead of a Queen, 
or Knave, or lo, or 9, as a singleton is great ; 
in man}^ otherwise colorless hands such a lead 
may secure larger results than any other open- 
uig. At present the much-abused singleton 
lead occupies by no means the disgraceful po- 
sition accorded to it a few years ago. No 
doubt by many thoughtless players it is worked 
to death ; but in the hands of a fearless expert, 
and at the proper occasion, it becomes a woful 
weapon and often produces a deadly cross-ruflF, 
impossible to check or interrupt. 



The Defense. 123 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Defense. 

J. The Lead of an Intermediate Card Usually 
the J, 6, 7, or 8, 

Just as the lead of the lowest card shows a 
long suit which you promise to control and 
which you declare worth pla^^ing for, so the 
lead of an intermediate card, more often a 5, 
6, 7, or 8 announces a suit which the peculiar 
composition of your hand forces you to open. 
It may be a weak suit of four cards which you 
lead because you have trump strength ; or it 
may be a suit containing only one honor. By 
such a lead you are able to tell 3'our partner 
that 3^ou wish to pla}^ for this suit, but that he 
must not count upon 3'our holding great 
strength in it. It may possibly be a short 
suit or a singleton, in w^hich case it is better 
for him to return it unless he has a good well- 
defined plan of his owm. 

In leading a suit of four weak cards, the 



124 



The Modified Game. 



best method is to lead the top when holding 
nothing above the 8 ; to lead the 9 only when 
it occurs with the 8 ; and the 10 only when it 
occurs with the 9. Upon leading or following 
the second time from the suit do not drop to 
the lowest card. Such a play would mark you 
with but two cards. The first, second, and 
third plays from several combinations are here 
given. In all these cases the leader can be 
counted with a third card after two rounds. 



From 




Play 


10. 9. 5. 


3- 


ic^5-3 


9. 8. 7. 


4- 


9-8-4 


9- 8- 5- 


2. 


9-5-2 


10. 7. 4. 


2. 


7-4-2 


9. 6. 3. 


2. 


6-3-2 


8. 6. 5. 


3- 


8-5-6 


6. 5. 4. 


2. 


6-4-5 



In leading from suits of five the same prin- 
ciple of retaining the smallest card after the 
second round applies. 



The Defense. 125 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Defense. 

Ij ^. The Lead of a Singleton, or a Two-card Stiit. 

Any hand which does not contain a long 
suit headed by Ace and King, or by King and 
Queen, and also does not contain trump 
strength ; or which has no long suit possible 
to establish and bring in by means of re-entry 
cards which are also present, justifies a single- 
ton lead. A singleton Ace is rarely a good 
lead. A singleton King is not a good lead. 
But au}^ other card from the Queen to the 2 
may be led in a hand wherein no good plan of 
action appears. If you can use one of your 
two or three trumps to ruff the adversaries' high 
cards in your short suit, you will probably 
gain thereby. The fact that any low card may 
be led as a singleton, renders it nearly impera- 
j tive for your partner to return your plain suit 
once before leading trumps, unless that plain 
suit is well protected in his hand. 



126 The Modified Game. 



The reasoning in favor of a singleton lead 
applies equally well to the lead of a two-card 
suit, headed by any card under the Queen in a 
similar class of hands. 



Practice Hands. 



127 



CHAPTER IX. 
Practice Hands. 

For the benefit of the student, twenty-five 
hands are herewith given wherein he should 
first use the knowledge he has thus far gained 
of the game, to select the proper lead, and then 
assure himself of the correctness of his judg- 
ment by referring to the Key printed after the 
list of hands. 

Spades are trumps. What would you lead, 
holding, 

Spades. Hearts. Chibs. Diamonds 

1. -K. lo, 8, 2,-io, 3. -A. Q. 4, 3.-8, 7, 5. 

2. -Kn. lo.-Q. 7, 5--Q- 10. 4. 2.-K. 8, 6, 3. 

3. -A. K. Q. 9, 7.-9, 5.-K. 7, 2.-6, 4, 3. 

4. -Kn. 4, 2.-7, 6, 4.-K. Q. 5, 3.-K. 8, 2. 

5. -A. Kn. 6, 5.-4, 3.-K. Q. 9, 7, 3.-A. 5- 

6. -8, 6, 2.-Q.. 7, 5.-K. Kn. 8, 5, 3.-9, 3. 

! 7.-9, 5. -A. Kn. 10, 7, 6.-Q. 8, 5, 4, 2.-7. 
' 8.-Q. 10, 7.-7, 3, 2.-A. K. 6, 4.-8, 5, 4. 
9. -A. 6, 4, 3.-K. 9, 3.-A. Q. 7, 2 -6, 4. 



128 The Modified Game. 



spades. Hearts. Clubs. Diamonds. 
lo.-A. K. 7, 6, 4, 2 -Q. 5.-4. 3.-6, 4, 2. 
ii-A. Q. Kn. 7, 3. -10, 7, 3, 2.-K. Q. 5, 4. 
12. -K. 10, 3.-Kn. 8, 5, 4.-Q. 7, 3. -A. 4, 2. 
7' 2. -A. 5, 2. -A. K. Q. 9, 7. -10, 4. 

14. -4.-K. 10, 3.-K. Q. Kn. 8, 7, 5.-Kn. 7, 6. 

15. -K. O. 7, 4.-7, 3.-A. K. 8, 7, 3.-K. 4. 

16. -A. Q. 10, 7.-Q. 10, 7.-A. Q. 4> 2.-K. 3. 

17. -10, 2.-K. Kn. 7, 3. -A. Q. 8, 2.-6, 5, 2. 
18 -K. 4.-K. Kn. 7, 3.-A. Q. 8, 2.-6, 5, 2. 

19. -Q. 10, 7, 5.-Kn. 9, 2.-Kn. Kn. 10, 4, 3. -10. 

20. -9, 6, 4. -A. Q. 4.-K. 6, 3, 2. -10, 2. 

21. -A. 7, 2.-K. 8, 4.-K. Kn. 7, 2. -10, 7, 3. 

22. -9, 8, 2. -10, 7, 4. -A. 10, 7, 6, 3.-8, 6. 

23. -K. 8, 2.-Q. 7, 4 -A. 10, 7, 6, 3.-8, 6. 

24. -K. Q. 4, 3. -A. 5. -A, 9, 7, 6, 4, 3.-7. 

25. -8, 7, 6. -10, 8, 7, 5.-A. K. 7, 4, 2.-9. 

Key to the Leads. 

1 . — 3 of Clubs. Long suit with four trumps. 

2. — Kn. of Trumps. A possible trick in 

every suit. 

3. — Q. of Trumps, then A. 

4. — K. of Clubs. 

5. — K, of Clubs. Disregard number. 

6. -9 of Diamonds. Play for a ruflf. 

7. — Ace of Hearts. Holding a singleton. 

8. — K, of Clubs. 

9. — 2 of- Clubs. With four trumps. 



Practice Hands 129 



10. — Ace of Spades. Holding six. 

11. — King of Diamonds. 

12. — 5 of Hearts. Dangerous to open any- 

thing else. Open this to protect your hand. 

13. — K. of Clubs. 

14. — 4 of Trumps. 

15. — K. of Clubs. 

16. — 2 of Clubs. 

17. — 10 of Trumps. You can open nothing 

else. 

18. — 3 of Hearts. 

19. — 3 of Clubs. 

20. — 6 of Clubs. Don't open short with four 

trumps. 

21. — 10 of Diamonds. 

22. — 8 of Diamonds. Weak in trumps, so 

play for a ruff. 
23- — 3 of Clubs. With other strength you 
can lead low. 

24. — Ace of Clubs. Because you hold a sin- 

gleton. 

25. — A. then K. of Clubs, and then 9 of Dia- 

monds. 



130 The Modified Game. 



CHAPTER X. 

Second Lead, Second Hand Pi.ay, Third 
Hand Pi.ay, and Unbi^ocking. 

Second Lead. 

In leading a second time from the suit you 
have opened, 3^ou should try to make it clear 
to your partner whether it is a strong or a 
weak suit. Having led Knave from King, 
Knave, lo, and others and having lost to the 
Queen, you should continue with King, and not 
lo ; the second round will thus clearly show 
that the suit is established in your hand. 

Having led the 6 from King, 7, 6, 2, (play- 
ing the third method of defense) continue not 
with the 2 but with the 7 and show plainly a 
long suit ; for a hand might occur in which 
you would be forced to lead a 6 from 6 and 2 
alone, and such a lead on the second round, 
you would certainly wish your partner to read 
as short. 

Therefore you should bear in mind when 
your partner's second lead is higher than his 
first, that his suit is long and probably strong; 



Second Lead. 131 



conversely when his second lead is lower, his 
suit is probably short. Not only note this 
carefully but see that your own leads corre- 
spond so that your partner may be similarly 
informed. 

If, after opening a weak suit, you regain 
the lead, it is usually better to continue with 
your original lead. If the adversaries have all 
the strength in such a suit the}^ are usually 
sure to make their high cards. 

Second Hand Play. 
The play of Second hand in the Modified 
Game is the same as given in the long-suit 
game, pages 27-33, with the exception that 
the King and the Knave are usually played 
when they have but one guard. 

Third Hand Play, 

Third hand should be most careful to note 
partner's lead, and accepting the information 
given by it, fit his own hand thereto. 

Thus upon your partner's lead of high, 
j strong trumps, you should discard so as to 
' show wherein your strength lies ; your partner 
may have simply a host of trumps and be 
j searching for some indication of a strong suit 
' in your hand. 

Upon your partner's opening weak trumps, 



132 The Modified Game. 



you should help him to exhaust them, leading 
them yourself at every chance. The one pos- 
sible time when you might hold back would 
be when holding the second best once guarded : 
here it is often better to wait and let your part- 
ner lead again. In all other cases, follow his 
lead and draw trumps, playing him for good 
cards or a good card in every suit. Thus if 
your partner opens the nine of trumps and 
second hand wins it and leads low from a plain 
suit in which you hold A. K. x, you can play 
low as your partner should have some strength 
in that suit, probably Knave or Queen. 

When your partner leads the lowest card of 
his suit, unless the suit is well protected in 
your own hand or 3'ou can read him for sure 
strength, (as when you win with the Queen, 
marking him with Ace or King) you should 
return the suit to him once before leading 
trumps. Occasionally you may lose a trick by 
so doing, but remember that countless hands 
are wrecked through premature trump leads. 
It is better to err on the safe side. 

When your partner leads Ace, King, or 
Queen, in a plain suit, you have no responsi- 
bility, save to call for trumps holding five, or 
four good ones. When he leads Knave you 
must be on the alert, for this is the one doubt- 



Third Hand Play. 



133 



ful card. It is a good lead to return as he may 
hav^e considerable strength in such a suit. Here 
you must watch the cards keenly and again 
protect the second best once guarded. Thus 
when partner leads Knave, and fourth hand 
wins with Queen, 3^ou, holding K. x, left in 
your hand, should not return that lead. Wait, 
and let partner lead it again. 

When your partner leads a sure strengthen- 
ing card, remember it is to help 3^ou. He has 
no good plan of action and is playing a wait- 
ing game. You are free to do as you please ; 
he stands ready to assist you. Therefore don't 
hasten to return such a lead unless you dis- 
tinctly wish to, as you are not returning his 
suit and he has nothing to establish. On the 
ten led you w^ould better pass at third hand ex- 
cept with A. K. X, ( + ) or K. Q. x, (— ) or 
A. Q. X, (+). 

Upon his lead of an}^ other card than his 
lowest, you would better continue and develop 
his suit. The one-suit game is the best to 
play as it is suited to both long and short leads. 

Remember that late in the hand the strength 
originally vested in the small-card leads, has 
ebbed ; their tale must be told early in the 
hand or else their added meaning no longer 
exists. Thus after you have led a weak suit, 



134 The Modified Game, 



the lead of a low card later on in the hand 
means nothing more than an}' low lead in the 
ordinary or garden variet}^ of whist. 

Unblockiiig . 
The principle of unblocking with a suit of 
four or more is observed in Modified Whist as 
in the long-suit game, except that it is applied 
to ever}^ lead. It is well to begin to unblock 
upon your partner's lead of Knave, lo, or 9, 
should the lead prove to have been from a short 
suit you can play your small card upon the 
third round of the suit. 

It is essential for 3'our partner to read your 
holding in his suit upon the first round ; there- 
fore your play of the lowest card 3'ou could 
hold would show not more than three ; any 
other card, four or more. 

A71 Unblocking Lead. 
It sometimes occurs, when trumps are quite 
or nearly exhausted, that one leads more in 
the hope of finding some strong suit of one's 
partner than of making an}^ cards of one's own. 
For instance, spades are trumps and partner 
discards a club ; now diamonds or hearts will 
prove to be his long perhaps strong suit. With 
notliing in diamonds, you thoughtlessly open 
a suit like King, 10, 9, 6, or Queen, 9, 8, or 



Unblocking. 



K. Kn. 9, 5 with the smallest card ; you thereby 
may make a fatal error. Should you find your 
partner long of that suit, the cards may so fall 
that you cannot get out of his way, and may 
lose several tricks. It is just as simple to lead 
the third-best. Should partner develop great 
strength, the retention of the small card may 
prove of vital importance. Therefore remem- 
ber 

After trumps ark accounted for, in 
opening a suit of four in which your 
partner may prove long, lead the third 
best, and not the lowest. 



136 The Modified Game. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Leading Through and Up To, Trumps, 
Discard. 

Leading Through and Up To. 

The rules for these plays are in no wa}' dif- 
ferent from the ones which obtain in the long- 
suit game. . Those will be found on pages 64- 
67 and should be carefully studied and ob- 
served. 

Tr2unps. 

You seldom call for trumps on the opponent's 
leads. Such a call has been found to be dan- 
gerous. It rarely pays and so often proves 
disastrous that it has been given up. Upon 
partner's lead, however, a trump call is so 
often of such great benefit, that it has been 
retained and is played in the usual w^ay. 

With four or more trumps 3'ou- should ruff 
with your third best unless too valuable ; you 
should echo with three exactly and give a sub- 
echo with four or more. These plays have 
been explained fully in the long-suit game. 



Discard, 



137 



Discard. 

The rule for discard, in this system diflfers 
slightly from that now used in the long-suit 
game, and which is explained on pages 75-80. 
It is : 

Your first discard should be from 
weakness except in the one case where 
the opponents open the hand with 
trumps, when you should discard from 
strength. 

The reverse discard shows strength in the 
suit thus discarded from. 

The Rotary Discard, 

Despite the fact that many writers decry the 
rotary discard as a private convention not 
worthy of whist, the author firmly believes in 
its utility and appends the system of using it. 

The general rule for discard has been given. 
But there are constant occasions when you can 
anticipate the fact that you will have but one 
discard — one chance to tell your partner the 
information that he hungers for and must have. 
To give such information, it is only needful 
that some order of the suits shall be agreed 
upon, preferably as their initials occur in the 
alphabet, Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades, 
and that the discard of a card from any suit 
shall indicate strength in the suit next in order. 



138 The Modified Game. 



skipping the trump suit. Thus if diamonds 
are trumps a heart would indicate spades ; a 
spade, clubs ; and a club, hearts. If this 
information is given to the entire table, there 
can be no question as to its fairness ; the au- 
thor well remembers a hand he once held con- 
taining Kn. X X of hearts (trumps); K. x of 
clubs ; 7 of diamonds ; and A. K. lo, x x x x 
of spades. Anxious to save a game apparently 
lost, he led the .Knave of trumps. Second 
hand covered with the Queen and partner won 
with King. Partner then pla3^ed Ace, lo, and 
9 of trumps exhausting them all and giving the 
original leader one discard. It had been ex- 
plained to the adversaries that the rotar}' sys- 
tem was to be used and so they as well as the 
leader's partner knew full well what the 7 of 
diamonds meant when it was discarded. Part- 
ner abandoned a good suit of his own and led 
Knave of spades, whereupon all the spades 
were brought in and the hand resulted in a 
gain of five tricks — impossible in an}^ other 
wa)^ 

By all means explain the rotar}' discard to 
3^our adversaries. Their right to know it, and 
your courtesy demands its explanation. But 
even with full information, they are usuall}^ 
helpless, and frequently a great suit is brought 
home in spite of their every effort. 



The Street Attachment. 139 



CHAPTER XII. 

The Street x^ttachment. 

While it is now a simple matter to inform 
your partner correctly as to the probable value 
of the suit 3^ou open and while you can tell 
him more about 3'our hand by one lead than 
you have ever been able to before, yet when 
the hand is opened by the adversaries, or when 
a suit is led b}^ them, the ordinary pla}' offers 
you no means of informing 3^our partner by 
your play at second hand or fourth hand how 
man}^ of that suit you hold. Such information 
the ' ' Street Attachment ' ' enables you to give. 
As 3^ou do not call for trumps on the adversa- 
ries' suits, you can use the play of a higher 
followed by a lower card for a far different pur- 
pose, namely to show as a rule no more of the 
suit. This play has been expanded during the 
past year to show either no more or the com- 
mand, the idea being that the one so pla^dng can 
win the third round either with a high card or by 
trumping in. Upon the basis of this simple 
play has been worked out a system of play on 



140 The Modified Game. 



the adversaries' leads by which your partner 
can read your holding in any suit led. 

Therefore holding two exactly, or three or 
more with the King or Queen, play next to 
the lowest first and then the lowest. 

Holding three but no honor, play first the 
middle card, then the highest and then the 
lowest. 

Holding three, one of w^hich is the Knave, 
or holding four or more, you pla}^ the lowest 
card first. As the result of this rule, it is evi- 
dent that, the instant your partner plays higher 
on the second round of the adversaries' suit 
than he has played on the first, he must have 
a third card left in that suit. Therefore it is 
useless to lead that suit for him to rufi", and 
should you remain with the command after the 
second round 3^ou can easily decide upon the 
advisability^ of leading it, knowing that he 
must follow suit. As examples of playing the 
attachment : 

Holding Play 



Note — .If the higher of two cards is A. play low ; with any 
other honor, play high. 



9, 7. 2. 
Q- 7. 2. 
K, 5. 3- 



7- 2. 



7 then 2. 
7 then 9. 

7- 

5- 



10, 8, 4, 2. 



2. 



The Street Attachment. 141 



As examples of reading correctly your part- 
ner's playing of this attachment the following 
will suffice : 

Upon the adversary's lead of Ace, your part- 
ner plays the 6 ; when the King is led next 
partner plays the 3. Either he has no more 
and has therefore eleven cards to be appor- 
tioned among three suits or he holds the com- 
mand — the Queen. 

Or upon the adversary's lead of King, your 
partner plays the 5 ; upon the Ace led next he 
plays the 7. He must have another card in 
that suit not the Queen. 

Or again, the adversary leads the Ace and 
your partner plays the 2. Upon the King led 
next, partner plays the 4. He must have 
either the Knave or at least two more. 

The play of the higher and then the lower 
card in the adversary's suit is not a command 
to your partner to lead that suit for you to 
ruff. It simply allows him to count the rest 
of your hand more nearly accurately than he 
otherwise could. 

While sometimes the play of the attachment 
seems to help the adversary yet more often it 
leaves him in dire perplexity. For instance, 
he opens a five-card suit with Ace and King 
upon which you, at fourth hand, play first 4 



142 The Modified Game. 



and then 2. He is in doubt whether you are 
showing no more and will ruff, or whether you 
have the Queen. Or again the leader leads 
from Ace, Knave and others ; his partner wins 
with the King and returns the suit. The orig- 
inal fourth hand, now second hand, plays 
lower, as the suit is returned, than he played 
at first. The original leader doesn't know 
whether to finesse or not. If the adversary is 
showing out, the leader would better play his 
Ace ; on the contrary, if the adversary is show- 
ing the Queen, the leader should finesse. 

The play of the attachment often serves to 
indicate a tenace suit which you wish led up 
to you. Should you open a weak suit and 
later show but two of the adversaries' suit, 
3^our partner must be driven to consider that 
what strength you have must lie in the third 
suit. 

The attachment is not an essential part of 
the game. It can be played or not as players 
agree beforehand. The author believes, how- 
ever, that it is a trick-winner and that two 
skillful players by using it can keep each other 
more clearly and more directly informed as re- 
gards the composition of their hands and the 
value of their different suits than by any other 
known method of play. 



The Street Attachment. 143 



Almost in a line with the " Attachment " is 
the following method of pla3ang trumps upon 
the adversaries' lead. This is beneficial in that 
the knowledge given rarely benefits the adver- 
saries, but often allows one's partner to play to 
advantage the third round himself, or hinders 
him from so doing. Briefly, the method is, 

Holding two, play the higher. 
Holding three, play the lowest. 
Holding four or more, play third best first and 
then fourth best. 

In playing two trumps on a low lead, play 
an}^ honor save Ace second in hand. On a 
card higher than your best trump, play your 
higher trump only when it is under the lo. 
This same rule obtains at fourth hand after 
the trick has been won. 



144 The Modified Game. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
Finesse. 

In the first part of the book, pages 72-74 
will be found the subject of finesse mapped out 
and explained for all whist players. 

Pla^^ers of Modified Whist have a little more 
latitude on this subject — in fact they should fi- 
nesse rather more deeply than is usually per- 
mitted in the long-suit game. 

As general rules, the following are true : 
you can finesse, 

Queen from Ace, Queen, and one or two low 
—not more. 

Knave from Ace, Knave and one low. Never 
from King, Knave and others, except upon a 
lead which is surely weak like the 8 or 9. 

Ten from Ace, Knave, 10, alone, or with 
one low and a fairly strong hand : or from 
Ace, 10, and one low ; from King, 10, and one 
low ; or from Queen, 10, and one low. 

These finesses are equally good in plain suits 
or trumps, especially in the latter when part- 
ner opens from four exactly. After winning 



Finesse. 



145 



with the lo or the Knave it is usually better 
to wait for your partner to lead again so that 
you may capture the high card second hand 
holds. Your partner, on the other hand, 
should lead if possible a card as good as the 
one you finessed in order to force second hand 
to play high. 



146 



The Modified Game. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

C0NC1.US10N. 

The author has been asked so often what he 
thinks of the relative merits of the modified 
game and the long-suit game that he takes 
this occasion to express his opinion. He 
firmly believes that the long-suit game when 
pla^'ed according to the rules laid down in the 
first part of this book, is the best game for the 
majorit}^ of persons to learn and pla3\ That 
system has stood the test of time and has been 
proven sound and trustworthy. But for ad- 
vanced whist players, for players who have 
tired of a game they know so well and who 
thirst for something which taxes to the utmost 
their memor}', judgment and skill, the modi- 
fied game comes as a novelty. And it must 
be confessed that there is a fascination in the 
bold attack of the latter system ; there is a 
comfortable economical feeling in the wise de- 
fensive leads ; there is a keen, intoxicating de- 
light in seeing one's partner's hand become 



Conclusion. 



147 



more and more luminous as each suit is 
counted and registered and the end-plays be- 
come double dumm}^ problems. 

The one great obstacle in the road of a 
player wishing to follow this system is the lack 
of a good partner. Once given two trained 
players, who can count, place and remember 
the cards ; let them play perfectl}^ this game as 
outlined in these pages and the author believes 
that in the long run they will prove invincible. 



Table of Contents. 



Part I. 

Page. 

Introduction v 

The Manner of Play i 

Chapter I. 

Opening the Hand 3 

Chapter II. 

The Original Lead 5 

Chapter III. 
Analysis of Hands 8 

Chapter IV. 
The Lead of Ace 9 

Chapter V. 

The Lead of King 11 

Chapter VI. 
The Lead of Queen 12 

Chapter VII. 
The Lead of Knave 13 

Chapter VIII. 
The Lead of Ten 15 

Chapter IX. 
Second Lead=_. 17 

Chapter X. 

The Lead of Fourth Best 19 

Chapter XI. 
Drill Table 20 

Chapter XII. 
Forced Leads 22 

Chapter XIII. 
Second Hand Play 27 



Table of Contents. II 



Page. 

Chapter XIV. 
Rule of Eleven 34 

Chapter XV. 
Third Hand Play 36 

Chapter XVI. 
Unblocking 41 

Chapter XVII. 
Fourth Hand Play 43 

Chapter XVIII. 
Returning Partner's Lead 44 

Chapter XIX. 
Trumps 51 

Chapter XX. 
Leading Through 64 

Chapter XXI. 
Leading Up To 66 

Chapter XXII. 
Management of Your Suit 68 

Chapter XXIII. 
Finesse 72 

Chapter XXIV. 
Discard 75 

Chapter XXV. 
Reverse Discard 81 

Chapter XXVI. 
False Cards 83 

Chapter XXVII. 
The Thirteenth Card 85 

Chapter XXVIII. 
Exceptional Leads 87 

Chapter XXIX. 
Logical Inferences „ 89 

Chapter XXX. 
Don't — 91 



Ill Table of Contents. 



Part II. 

Page. 



Introduction xcvii 

Chapter I. 

Argument in Behalf of This Game 99 

Chapter II. 

The Attack— The Lead of Strong Trumps 108 

Chapter III. 
The Attack (continued) — The Lead of Weak 

Trumps . 113 

Chapter IV. 
The Attack (continued) — The Lead of the 2, 3 

or 4 114 

Chapter V. 



The Defense — The Lead of Ace, King, Queen, 

or Knave from Suits of Four or More. 115 

Chapter VI. 
The Defense — The Lead of a Strengthening Card. 118 



Chapter VII. 
The Defense— The Lead of the 5, 6, 7 or 8 123 

Chapter VIII. 
The Defense — The Lead of a Singleton, or a Two- 
card Suit 125 

Chapter IX. 
Practice Hands 127 

Chapter X. 
Second Lead, Second Hand ^ Play, Third Hand 

Play and Unblocking 130 

Chapter XI. 
Leading Through ^nd L'p To, Trumps, Discard-- 136 

Chapter Xir. 
The Street Attachment 139 

Chapter XIII. 
Finesse 144 

Chapter XIV. 
Conclusion 146 



i 

f 



